Investor Presentaiton
THE NATIONAL TRUST OF
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
This takes the form of commemoration events featuring
reenactments, dramatic and cultural presentations,
lectures, tours, exhibitions, displays, films and workshops.
The visitor experience on Nelson Island is also being
enhanced to address leisure and enjoyment. Cultural and
related events lend to greater accessibility and functionality
of the island.
Nelson Island represents settlement, transformation,
growth and development. History comes alive and is
therefore better understood on the Island.
THE BUILDINGS OF NELSON ISLAND
The surviving buildings on Nelson Island were constructed by the English
administration shortly after the capture of Trinidad in 1797 (an additional one is
thought to be a Spanish guardhouse). They are built of island-mined blue
limestone, cast in mortar of burnt lime and sand in rough timber boxing. The.
buildings all measure approximately 25m x 7m and the central one is two storied.
The buildings were most certainly have been built using the labour of enslaved
Africans from nearby estates or "Kings Negroes" who were enslaved men owned
by the Government and used for public works.
The central building which bears the inscription "AD 1802" is clearly the oldest
standing roofed building in Trinidad. It predates structures such as the Catholic
Cathedral and the Royal Jail in Port of Spain which date from about 15 years later.
During the two centuries, there have, of course, been many modifications to the
original buildings on Nelson Island consistent with changes in use. Two additional
buildings were constructed, probably around 1860. One was a sort of reception
center while the other was a hospital or recuperation center to temporarily house
shiploads of indentured labourers arriving from India. Both were timber
buildings on concrete foundations. The most recent modifications were in
1970 when the male dormitory on the southern side of the site was converted
to a series of prison cells to incarcerate the Black Power dissidents.
The four buildings on Nelson Island are all that remain standing
after two centuries.
THE NATIONAL TRUST
OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGOView entire presentation