1145 BARBADOS - Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison (UNESCO WHS)

1145 Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison

Bridgetown, the capital and largest city of Barbados, is located along the Carlisle Bay, on the southwestern coast of the island. The present day location of the city was established by English settlers in 1628 following a prior settlement under the authority of Sir William Courten at St. James Town. Historic Bridgetown is an outstanding example of British colonial architecture consisting of a well-preserved old town built in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, which testifies to the spread of Great Britain's Atlantic colonial empire. The property also includes a nearby military garrison which consists of numerous historic buildings.

As one of the earliest established towns with a fortified port in the Caribbean network of military and maritime-mercantile outposts of the British Atlantic, Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison was the focus of trade-based English expansion in the Americas. Historic Bridgetown’s irregular settlement patterns and 17th Century street layout of an English medieval type, in particular the organic serpentine streets, supported the development and transformation of creolized forms of architecture, including Caribbean Georgian.

Used as a base for amphibious command and control, the garrison housed the Eastern Caribbean headquarters of the British Army and Navy. In 1751, leader of the American Revolution and first president of the United States, George Washington, stayed at the district's Bush Hill section for six weeks with his sick brother. This restored property remains as a fixture at the Garrison where it is simply called the George Washington House.

About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series of 5 stamps named Fireball Regatta - Sailing Boats, issued on April 23, 2010. The last two stamps are part of the series Barbados Local Fruits, about which I wrote here.

References
Bridgetown - Wikipedia
Garrison Historic Area - Wikipedia
Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison - UNESCO official website

Sender: Monika
Sent from Bridgetown (Barbados), on 20.06.2014
Photo: Randall Banfield / 1994