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Bermuda: St. George
By Mary Johnson Tweedy
ST. GEORGE
This quaint old town, founded in 1612, was the capital until 1815, when the government moved to Hamilton. Its sleepy lanes are so narrow that even Bermuda's little cars have difficulty entering them, and it is much more rewarding to explore quiet St. George on foot.
From Hamilton to St. George is forty-five minutes by taxi and a good hour and a half by cycle. It is best to spend at least a day in St. George, but you can capsule its sights if you must. A popular schedule is to start at King's Square on the waterfront, ramble through the lanes and visit points of interest in the morning, and then lunch at the St. George Hotel overlooking the beautiful Harbor.
After lunch take a carriage ride around the shore, stopping at restored Gates Fort (first built early in the seventeenth century), at nineteenth century St. Catherine's, Victoria and Albert Forts, at the old military cemetery and at Tobacco Bay where the gunpowder was loaded after the eighteenth century robbery.
If you can manage it, take the St. David's ferry that crosses St. George's Harbor to St. David's Island. It is a delightful trip and inexpensive. While you are on St. David's visit the lighthouse, from which there is a wonderful view. The United States Air Force Base occupies most of what was St. David's in addition to the "made land" pumped from the sea.
Many of the leading stores in Hamilton have smaller branches in St. George and there are other interesting shops.
St. Peter's Church --the parish church of St. Georges and probably the site of the oldest Anglican church in the Western Hemisphere. "Friends of St. Peter's" are available as guides from 11:00 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. They show you the famous communion silver valued at $250,000 (most of which was given to the church by William III); the cedar altar, so old it looks like mahagony; the gallery where slaves sat; and the many interesting memorial tablets (note Governor Alured Popple's in particular) and the old gravestones in the church yard.
Somers Garden --when Sir George Somers died his nephew took his body back to England but buried his heart here in what is now a beautiful little park.
Old State House --built in 1620, the first stone building erected in Bermuda and therefore the oldest one here now. Some historians say turtle oil and lime were used as mortar. It is shown in Captain John Smith History of Virginia. In early days the State House was an impressive building, but it is at the moment only historically interesting. There have been many plans (but not enough money) to restore the State House and various other historic buildings. Unrestored St. George with its charm and its rich history might be called "Williamsburg without a Rockefeller."
St. George's Historical Society (closed Thursday afternoons and Sundays)--at the corner of Kent Street and Featherbed Alley. The museum has prints and relics of early life in the Colony, particularly of its sailing days, and in its collection is the window frame from the barred cell where Evangelist George Stevenson was imprisoned. The staff of the society is always helpful in answering questions.
The Unfinished Church --on the hill at the head of Kent Street. It stands where Government House did in the early days. This church was to have replaced historic St. Peter's, which was considered beyond repair in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. However, the money ran out before it was finished and it is now a roofless ruin. Trees and jungle growth have taken over, and flowers and blooming trees are its only congregation.
Behind the Unfinished Church is the St. George's Parish Rectory, formerly part of the old Government House.
Powder Magazine --on Retreat Hill near the Unfinished Church. It was from an earlier magazine near the site of this one that Bermudians stole the powder furnished to the American Colonists (see Chapter 10.). From the magazine they brazenly rolled the kegs along the back of the Rectory, then part of Government House, and across the Governor's Park to Tobacco Bay.
Stockdale's House --on Printer's Alley. Home of Joseph Stockdale, a member of a prominent English printing family who came to Bermuda and launched the Colony's first newspaper, the Gazette, in 1784.
Old Maid's Lane --this was the street on which Poet Tom Moore lived when he was in Bermuda as Registrar of the Court of Vice Admiralty. He fell in love with Mrs. Nea Tucker who lived next door with her husband and children. Moore had his troubles as a result of his few months in Bermuda. Charming Nea's jealous husband refused to let him enter their house, and after he left his dishonest deputy plunged him into a £6,000 debt. However, his Odes to Nea and other poems with a Bermuda background endear him to the Colony.
St. George Hotel --there is an entrance to the hotel leading up from Old Maid's Lane, and the view from the terrace is worth the climb. You can have a meal, a drink or tea.
After visiting Gates Fort and St. Catherine's Fort you may be interested in taking a boat to some of Bermuda's other interesting old forts on Castle, Charles and Southampton Islands off Castle Point (Tucker's Town). These forts, built soon after the first governor arrived in 1612, have not yet been restored, but they are interesting to explore.
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