Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
Leaving the town of Bermudian Valley (of which I think there is
scarcely a relic) “alone in its glory,” we come to Parham, the
remaining place of trade appointed during the time Col. Rowland
Williams held the deputy-governorship of Antigua. Parham takes
its name from the title of Lord William Willoughby of Parham. In
1697, after the decease of Christopher Codrington, Esq., (the
elder,) Parham appears to have been the residence of the
lieutenant-governor, in preference to St. John’s; and this
circumstance gives rise to the statement of some authors, that
Parham was once the capital of the island. It is another of those
strangely straggling places whose streets are in many parts
bordered with dagger (_aloe vulgaris_) instead of houses; but
still it is far superior to Bridgetown, for some of its edifices
boast of covered galleries, or balconies, flights of stone steps,
and many other decorations.
The parish church of St. Peter’s, the second of the name, is an
old dismal looking building, whose outward appearance is enough
to give the observer a fit of that fashionable complaint,
dyspepsia. It was erected in 1754, and affords 300 sittings. St.
Peter’s has a chapel-of-ease, the private property of the Rev.
Nat. Gilbert, a descendant of the “founder of Methodism” in
Antigua, who was speaker of the house of assembly in 1764.
From some strange freak, or else from dire necessity, Parham
churchyard is situated at about two miles distance from the
church and town. It was formerly surrounded by a brick wall, but
that is all falling to ruin. A more desolate-looking
burying-ground I never saw—not a tree or flower near it; the very
birds in their aerial wanderings seem to shun the spot.
At a short distance from St. Peter’s is fast rising into
existence what will prove, when finished, a very neat and pretty
church. It is an irregular octagonal—that is, the sides are not
of equal dimensions. It is built of the same kind of stone as St.
Philip’s; but has a better effect, from the blocks being cut of
larger size. The base of the tower is constructed from the
interior; but in its present unfinished state, (1842) with all
its multiplicity of scaffolding and frame work, it is impossible
to say what will be the effect; except, as I have before
remarked, it will no doubt make a pretty appearance when
completed. The architect is an Englishman, and the head mason (a
black man) appears to be well-versed in the mysteries of his
trade, to judge from the excellent smoothness in the joints of
the walls, and from a very neat key-stone which he has
sculptured. This church is intended to take the name and service
from the old one, which will then be dismantled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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