The history of St. Philip’s Anglican Church in Kingstown goes back to 1830s,
when the first ever bishop for Barbados and the West Indies ordered it built.
While today its roof is gone and its four walls are held up by lumber supports, it’s still an important historical site, which is why the Duke of Gloucester will stop there March 8 during his visit to the territory to mark the Queen’s Jubilee, Reverend Ronald Branche said last week.
Mr. Branche’s congregation usually meets at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Road Town, but each year he holds services to commemorate emancipation at the site of the St. Philip’s ruins. He said church staff and volunteers clean the site regularly.
The cleanup happening this week is to take care of the grounds, but Mr. Branche and others want to make repairs that will prevent the ruins from deteriorating any further.
“We’ve propped it up, but the weather has taken its toll,” he said of the stone church, which was completed around 1840.
See the March 1, 2012 edition for full coverage.