Friends of the Georgian Society of Jamaica

  

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Port Royal

     Spanish Town        Falmouth   
Port Royal, at the end of the spit of land which encloses Kingston harbour, was so named in honour of the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. It rapidly became, however, the haunt of buccaneers, who used it as a base from which they sallied forth to loot and plunder shipping and even other ports.

The wealth that flowed in not only from the lawless activities of the buccaneers but also from its voluminous trade, not least in slaves, meant that it became the island's most important 17th century town.

The presence of the navy at Port Royal, and the need for medical facilities when so many naval battles were engaged in neighbouring waters, led to the building of what is one of Jamaica's most interesting buildings, the Cast Iron Hospital (1817) of Port Royal.

This hospital remained in use until the Royal Navy withdrew from Port Royal at the beginning of the 19th century. Since then it has formed a place of refuge for local people during many hurricanes and earthquakes and now houses the artefacts from the underwater excavations. It is the subject of a monograph on its history, published by the Caribbean School of Architecture in 2000.

There are at present plans for developing Port Royal as a major tourist attraction. While these plans mature, there are those who favour developing the Naval Hospital as a historic part of Jamaica's architectural history while awaiting the progress of the more comprehensive blueprint. The latter is a view with which some members of the FGSJ are particularly in sympathy.

   
Its fame as the richest and wickedest city in the Caribbean came to an end with the earthquake of 1692, which plunged half the town into the sea. Port Royal survived, however, to become an important naval station under British rule in the 18th century. Undersea excavation in the 20th century has brought many interesting artefacts from this period to the notice of a wider public.  
   
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