| Citation |
NHG-P.780.010
25 Dec 1780:21,22 (1261)
From the Antigua Gazette Extraordinary, November 7, 1780.
Bridge-own, (Barbadoes) October 28. . . [48 lines describing
a severe storm ]
The castle, forts, and batteries all destroyed; one wing and
a great part of the other, of that large and magnificent
building, the Government house are thrown down, and the
center unroofed; that valuable building the Court house and
Prison, which was not to be equalled in any part of the West
Indie Islands is now little better than a heap of rubbish as
there remains but a small part of the walls; nor have the
houses of individuals in general shared a much better fate,
as there was not above thirty dwelling-houses, stores, &c.
in this town which has escaped without considerable damage,
and of the remainder, much the greater number are entirely
thrown down; or left in such a situation as not to be
repaired, but among all the buildings that were in this
place, there is none that strikes the spectator so forcibly
as that once noble structure, St. Michaels' church! to see
all in ruins, a building dedicated to the service of God
which not more than twenty eight years ago, had been
rebuilt, and finished with elegance, a building of 100 feet
in length and 60 wide, within the walls, exclusive of a very
large chancel, and which had often contained more than 3000
souls at one time, in which was an organ in complete order,
worthy of a place in the largest church in the world, a
steeple (which contained an excellent clock and peal of
eight bells) whose height from the foundation was one
hundred and twenty four feet; to behold all this tumbled in
a heap, and in many places levelled with the ground, . . .
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