Newcastle, Saint Kitts and Nevis

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Newcastle
Vance Amory Airport facade, June 2006.jpg
Vance W. Amory International Airport
Saint Kitts and Nevis location map.svg
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Newcastle
Location in Saint Kitts and Nevis
Coordinates: 17°12′N062°35′W / 17.200°N 62.583°W / 17.200; -62.583
Country Saint Kitts and Nevis
Island Nevis
Parish Saint James Windward

Newcastle is a village on the northern coast of the island of Nevis in Saint Kitts and Nevis. It is the capital of Saint James Windward Parish. The village is just to the east of Vance W. Amory International Airport and sits across from the the Narrows, the strait which separates Nevis from Saint Kitts.

Contents

According to local histories, the village of Newcastle was historically known as New Castle. [1]

Geography

Newcastle is situated on Newcastle Bay, which opens into the Narrows, the strait which separates Nevis from Saint Kitts. [2]

Economy

The primary industries in Newcastle are tourism and fishing. It serves as a secondary service centre for education and health services to Charlestown. [2]

History

Nevis was colonised by the English. A 6.7 m2 (72 sq ft) fortification known as the Newcastle Redoubt was constructed in Newcastle circa 1650. [3]

By the early 18th century, Newcastle was officially classified as a town alongside Charlestown and Jamestown. By this time, Newcastle had a rudimentary port, [4] and its proximity to the southern tip of the island of Saint Kitts meant that potters making use of the excellent clay in the Newcastle area could easily travel from the Newcastle port to Basseterre to sell their wares. [1]

The original village was located along the oceanfront on the land now designated for the Vance W. Amory International Airport; its buildings and shops were relocated in the mid-1950s to make way for the construction and runway expansions of the airport. [1] The Newcastle Redoubt was demolished to make way for a runway expansion in 1996. [5]

In 1981, New Castle Pottery, a permanent traditional pottery workshop, was established in Newcastle with development funds from the United States Agency for International Development and the Canadian International Development Agency. It subsequently became an important site for tourism. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Fay, Patricia J. (2017-11-28). Creole Clay: Heritage Ceramics in the Contemporary Caribbean. University Press of Florida. pp. 136–142. ISBN   978-0-8130-5293-9.
  2. 1 2 Granderson, Ainka; Ramkissoon, Candice (2022-07-14). "6.3 Newcastle". Report of the vulnerability and capacity assessments in coastal and fishing communities in Saint Kitts and Nevis (PDF). Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. pp. 38–47. ISBN   978-92-5-135162-8.
  3. ↑ Leech, Roger; Leech, Pamela (2021). The Colonial Landscape of the British Caribbean. Boydell & Brewer. p. 16. ISBN   978-1-78327-565-6.
  4. ↑ Philpott, Robert A.; Leech, Roger; Morris, Elaine L. (2021-02-11). Searching for the 17th Century on Nevis: The Survey and Excavation of Two Early Plantation Sites. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 18. ISBN   978-1-78969-887-9.
  5. ↑ Morris, Elaine L.; Read, Robert; James, S. Elizabeth; Machling, Tessa; Williams, David F.; Wilson, Brent (1999). "'… the old stone fortt at Newcastle …' The Redoubt, Nevis, eastern Caribbean". Post-Medieval Archaeology. 33 (1): 194–221. doi:10.1179/pma.1999.007. ISSN   0079-4236.
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