Our recreation of the Antiguan rainforest will give you a flavour of the sights, smells and sounds of the dense flora and fauna, all of which were completely alien to 17th century English settlers.
The changing face of Antigua
In 1632, English settlers discovered an island blanketed in dense virgin rainforest. The spectacular landscape crawled with strange animals and echoed with exotic sounds.
In a shockingly short period of time, this lush territory was committed to the production of sugar cane; by a total of 160 separate enterprises, to be precise. By 1678, half of the island’s population would be made up of enslaved people.
Sadly, for those forced to work in the sugar cane factories, the environment was hellishly hot and inhumane.
Don’t miss it!
Our deserted rum vaults have lain intact and virtually unchanged for over 200 years. These once busy vaults were used to store rum for which the duty had yet to be paid.
As you peer inside, you can imagine how the barrels and bottles would have been transported by horse and cart from Whitehaven Harbour to the Chapel Street warehouse doors, and stacked straight into their temporary home in our dark and dusty vault.
