wingfield estate

Situated adjacent to Wingfield River in lush rainforest above Old Road Town, St. Kitts. Wingfield Estate is set in the foothills of the islands central mountain range with elevations over 3000ft. The attributes that make this site historically unique are the complexity and components of the site, its place in the history of the West Indies, and its human history that spans the eras from the Amerindian, through the introduction and demise of sugar agriculture, slavery and emancipation, and the rise of a local entrepreneurial class. Established in 1625, Wingfield Estate is the first land grant given by King Charles I in the entire British West Indies. The many unique historic buildings have interpretive graphic signs explaining how sugar was made from cane,and how rum was made from sugar.The estate has gone through many transitions. Its operations have moved from animal mill power, to waterpower, and then finally steam power. The site equipment spans 3 centuries. In the 1920s the existing mill buildings where converted for use as a hydroelectric facility with a turbine system, this supplied electricity for the estate and Romney Manor. It was decommissioned in the 1950s and the site was left abandoned for many years. Today declared a national park, Wingfield Estate is now in a public-private partnership.