Of the ecclesiastical buildings at St. Jago de la Vega trustworthy records exist only of an abbey, and a chapel of the red cross and a chapel of the white cross. The present =Cathedral=, the oldest cathedral in the British colonies, stands on the site of the red cross chapel. The bases of two piers (Long calls them columns) 8 feet square, part of the entrance to the abbey (which stood to the south of the present parade), were, in Long’s time, standing near the south end of the public offices. They were of brickwork, strongly cemented. He says: “I have seen in this town a great many large stone mouldings for the bases and other parts of columns, which, as well as the sculptures dug out of the ruins of Sevilla Nueva, in St. Ann’s, appeared to have been executed by no mean artist. The Spanish ecclesiastics ... must be allowed some merit in having cultivated the elegances of architecture in these remote parts of the world. Some of their public structures at St. Domingo, the Havannah, La Vera Cruz, Carthagena, Panama, &c., would make a noble figure even in European cities.” Unfortunately it would seem that, judging from his comments on buildings still standing, art criticism was not one of Long’s strong points. [Illustration: SPANISH-TOWN CATHEDRAL ] The original church, erected by the English, probably on the foundations and of the materials of the Spanish building, as the parish church of St. Catherine, was thrown down by the hurricane of 1712, and was rebuilt of red brick in 1714, as is stated on a tablet over the entrance door in the tower at the west end: D. O. M. This Church Dedicated to ye Service of Almighty God was thrown downe by ye dreadfull Hurricane of August ye 28th Anno Domini MDCCXII., and was by ye Divine Assistance, through ye Piety and at ye expence of ye Parishioners, more beautifully and substantially rebuilt upon its old foundation in ye thirteenth year of ye Reigne of our most gracious Sovereigne Queen Ann and in ye Government of his Excellency the Lord Archibald Hamilton, in the year of our Lord MDCCXIV. Matthew Gregory, Esq^r. & Church Wardens. Mr. Beaument Pestell. Below this on another marble slab is the following inscription: This tower was erected, And the above Tablet removed from the inner Wall In the year MDCCCXVII. His Grace the Duke of Manchester Governor. John Lunan, Francis Smith, Churchwardens. When Long published his History in 1774, the church being without a tower, the congregation was “summoned by a small bell hung in a wooden frame erected in the churchyard.”