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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online
To refer to this web file use "bermuda-online.org/seestdavids.htm" as your Subject
Part of St. George's Parish. It was originally one of the six principal, separate, Bermuda islands. What is still referred to as St. David's Island was originally 503 acres. It was connected in the 1930's to the mainland by the Severn Bridge, since dismantled. It was enlarged in 1942 to over 650 acres to build the (now decommissioned) Fort Bell (US Army), then Kindley Air Force Base (USAF), then USNAS. See US Military Quits Bermuda. It was joined to the Main Island of Bermuda in the 1970s. Today, the vastly-changed area is part of the mainland, connected by a perimeter road skirting St. George's Harbor and is mostly urban residential. St. David's Islanders have a unique character and flavor. Some are descended from American Indians once imported as slaves or, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to build the railway and other high or difficult structures, and carry the same features. Once isolated from the mainland, St. David's Islanders remain the main outlaws in some respects yet the most law-abiding in others.
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It was called St. David's by one of the early colonists from Wales who knew about St. David (Dewi Sant), the patron saint of Wales. He lived in the 6th century AD. His mother was St. Non. He was an abbot and bishop and credited with the establishment of twelve monasteries. His own monastery stood at what is now St. David's in Pembrokeshire, Wales - and has been called that for over 1,000 years. Today, it is the smallest cathedral city in Britain, dominated by its beautiful cathedral (dating from the year 1180) to honor St. David, whose national (in Wales, UK) and international feast day is March 1. His religious friends - and possibly, confessors - included St. Justinian and St. Brynach, a Celt from Ireland whose 6th century church is in Nevern, Wales. He and St. David both spoke Ogham, the oldest known form of Gaelic. Websites about St. David's in Wales include: Photo taken at St. David's Cathedral, Wales by the author exclusively for Bermuda Online |
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In his Henry V work, Shakespeare made St. David's emblem the leek instead of the usual dove. In Britain, twenty three churches are dedicated to him including Little and Much Dewchurch in Herefordshire. Another connection in name only - between St. David's in Bermuda and St. David's in Wales in the Royal St. David Golf Course in Wales's Snowdonia. Here, the connections between the two St. David's stop. St. David's in Bermuda does not celebrate the Welsh national holiday of March 1 in honor of St. David. Nor does it have anything to do with the leek, the national symbol of Wales since Welshmen fought with Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt. Welsh regiments of the British Army still celebrate St. David's Day by eating a raw leek. While there are a number of Welsh people in Bermuda, including Senator Walwyn Hughes, whose father the late Idwyl Hughes was from Wales, no specific mention in St. David's, Bermuda, is given to current Welsh personalities such as Charlotte Church, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Jones and (part-time Bermuda resident) Catherine Zeta-Jones, or late Welsh personalities such as Richard Burton.
St. David's Islanders have always been different to most other Bermudians. Some still have distinct characteristics of American Red Indian heritage. The St. David's Lighthouse has an interesting historical backdrop. Built in 1879 and periodically refurbished, it still serves as a beacon for mariners. It was constructed to stop St. David's Islanders from luring ships with other kinds of lights to come too close to the reefs and get their bottoms torn out for easy plundering. When the lighthouse defeated their illegal activities, they became fishermen and excellent pilots.
The tranquility of this formerly largely rural and now park and urban area of Bermuda was shaken forever when, during World War Two, more than three quarters of the entire island was taken over for the construction of the American military base. The now closed facility, successively a US Army, then US Army Air Force, then US Air Force, then US Naval Air Station, was located here for over 50 years, until 1995.
Well worth visits are the Great Head Battery and Park and, when open (usually on a Wednesday), Carter House, on the former US Naval Air Station, an excellent example of an historic Bermuda homestead saved from destruction when the US military arrived in 1941. It is a living museum of Bermudian history. Clearwater Beach and Park at Annie's Bay on Cooper's Island off St. David's is a 36 acre site with two public beaches closed to the public from 1941 to 1995 (during the 54 years Cooper's Island was a US Navy reserved area). It has nature trails and fine views of Nonsuch Island and Castle Harbor.
It was once revered as one of Bermuda's most close-knit communities where everyone knew each other.
But now, overcrowding, crime and drugs dominate concerns of St. David's residents. As of November 18, 2007 St. David's had 1,404 registered voters, an increase of 339 people since the 2003 election.
Once Mis' Annie's Bay, believed to be after Ann Fox, widow (1835) of Copeland Fox.
Stokes Road, Southside. Telephone 293-2222.
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Southside
Road. Named after Christopher Carter, a survivor off the
shipwrecked flag ship "Sea Venture" in 1609 who remained in Bermuda in 1610 when
the castaways sailed to Virginia. He became one of the three
"Kings" of Bermuda for many months. He believed there was buried gold on this island.
On the former US Naval Air Station on St. David's Island, it is historic, probably built in the 1720s, by John Hayward and his wife Martha, reputedly a descendant of Christopher Carter. It was originally a private house. It was saved from destruction when the US military arrived in 1941 and took over all the land nearby including this house. Then, until 1995, it was used as a beauty parlor. Now the St. David's Historical Society Museum. Photo by author Keith A. Forbes. |
The society, which does not have Internet access, is a museum of Bermudian history.
Named after Christopher Carter, one of the trio who stayed behind when the Deliverance sailed to England with the body of Admiral Sir George Somers aboard.
Southside. At Annie's Bay on Cooper's Island. Not accessible by public transport. A public beach since 1995 after having been a strictly US military beach from 1941 to 1995. It is a 36 acre site actually with two nice public beaches (Clearwater and Turtle beaches). They were not around prior to 1941 and are not natural but man-made, created from landfill used to make the runway at the late US Army Air Corps base. When the USAF took over from the US Army Air Corps in 1948, it was decided in 1952 by the USAF to (a) have a central beach facility closer to Cooper’s Island, in an area far enough away from the runway to meet airfield safety criteria and (b), in September of that year, to give this beach its name, after the famous area in Florida.
Later, a beach house, picnic area and canteen were built here, subsequently joined by an outdoor roller skating rink and dance pavilion. Through the years additional improvements were made by the US military authorities. It became a very popular summer time spot for USAF, later USN people and their families.
Now that is public land again, there are nature trails, playground equipment, and beautiful views. But certain areas are still closed to the public by the Bermuda Government.
Where there were once seven whale houses, one incorporated into Dolly's Bay House. At one time - from 1941 - Dolly's Bay was the officers’ bathing beach of the US Army, US Army Air Corps, USAF and USN from the former US military bases built from 1941. An old notice for transient officers points out that the bay is in "front" of the officers’ club, and notes that "swim suits are available from the club officer." It is not known when the use of Dolly's Bay was discontinued for this purpose.
Named for the fact that many St. David's Islanders have Fox as their surname.
Cooper's Island, once the home of John Grazbury.
Number 71 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves.
Great Head Battery is a purpose-built local military gun emplacement. Restoration work on two 100-year-old breech loaded guns were was completed in October 2006. They were constructed in the United Kingdom in 1910 to defend the entrance to the Narrows Channel that leads into St. George’s Harbour. The Battery here was in use until 1957. It was armed with two 9.2-inch and two six-inch breech loading guns. The 9.2-inch guns were the largest guns ever mounted in Bermuda and had a range of seven miles. During the Second World War the two six-inch guns were one of Bermuda’s only coastal defenses to protect against enemy invasion and as such are an important part of the Island’s heritage. Both the Battery and Park are splendid walking areas for the healthy and stretch for miles but because they have narrow, uneven and sometimes hilly walking paths, are not recommended for anyone with any physical disability. There is also a Figurehead Memorial for Bermudians lost at sea. Resident artists were asked by the Ministry of Transport to produced sketches and plans. It is on a wind-swept point at Bermuda’s eastern most edge, as a memorial to those lost at sea. Amongst them were three generations of descendants of Warwick resident Elma (Paynter) Joynes who died when the sea liner bringing her home from North America was torpedoed by a submarine at the height of the Second World War. Ms Joynes was only 24 when she was amongst hundreds who died after the Canadian liner SS Lady Hawkins was hit in January 1942. Bermudian artist Bill (Mussey) Ming created the memorial in England after salvaging a 100-year-old boat from near a busy motorway road and using it as the basis for his sculpture, which contains nautical items including dividers, a life-belt, paddle, sand timer hourglass and an open book reproducing a section of Allan E. Doughty’s poem “The End of Time.” The 12-ton structure was inspected by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, in 2005. Those commemorated include Alan Edness whose death alongside Micah Battersbee at sea during a storm in January 2003 provided the impetus to create a lasting memorial to all those taken by the sea; and Leonard (Sam) Outerbridge who died in 2003 while out on a solo fishing expedition near Castle Island. His boat was found but the 57-year-old has never been seen since he set out on that final fishing trip. Then-Premier Dame Jennifer Smith set up in 2003 the Memorial for Those Lost at Sea Committee to steer the idea.
Originally Stock's Harbour, a place where the remains of an executed slave and convict were hung on poles at adjacent Stock's Point. It was renamed after British Army members came here by boat to drink. Several died from drinking, found in fishing nets the next day.
| Bremen | Number 68 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. 0.25 acre, east of Smith's Island, St. George's Harbor. |
| Brook's | 0.85 acre, north of St. David's Island, St. George's Harbor. |
| Burt's | North of St. David's Island, St. George's Harbor. |
| Cooper's | 77.5 acres, off St. David's, once occupied by a NASA space tracking station and with two lovely public beaches. Once US Army, then US Air Force, then US Navy property until the base was closed in 1995. St. George's Parish. Historically significant. |
| Governor's | Number 68 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. 1 acre, St. George's Harbor, near St. David's Island, between Peggy's Island and Paget Island. Its old ruined fort was once the dominant feature. It was named for Governor Moore who in 1612 to 1613 began the fort as a way to command the vulnerable but then strategically important channel nearby. By the time Moore's term ended, 11 guns were in the fort. One of the publicly inaccessible forts but historically important. |
| Grasbury's | 0.75 acre, southeast of Annie's Bay on Cooper's Island, Castle Harbor. |
| Little Oswego | 0.73 acre, east of Oswego (Great), off St. David's. |
| Little Scaur | Between Grazbury's and Long Rock, south of Annie's Bay, St. David's. |
| Nonsuch | Castle Harbor, west of Cooper's Island, south of St. David's, 14.5 acres. It has small, pristine, untouched beaches and a fresh-water marsh. Its trees are mostly Olivewood, Palm, Bermuda Cedar and casuarina. Its main occupants are the cahow bird (but no nests), butterflies, skinks, silk spiders and the longtail bird. Originally Nonesuch Island, it achieved fame when Dr. William Beebe and staff used it for their deep water diving experiments for a major organization in New York. Much later, it became a school for juvenile delinquents. Now it is a bird and wildlife sanctuary, the Nonsuch Island Nature Reserve. The Cahow project was begun here by Dr. David Wingate (he retired in 2000), to protect and preserve this indigenous Bermuda bird once thought extinct. The island is now a living museum, a re-creation of Bermuda's native flora and fauna. Limited escorted field trips, for special-interest groups only, began in 2000, from the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) for $75 per person. Telephone 297-1880. Credit card bookings and Thursday morning only. All proceeds support environmental research and education at BBSR. There is also a week-long Nonsuch Island Natural History Camp every year (usually in June) for local high school students, at the nature reserve. Students camp out under the stars, sleep on lilos or camp beds, bathe with solar showers or cold water from a bucket. |
| Oswego | Also known as Great, 2.5 acres, St. George's Harbor. |
| Peggy's | Off Smith's, St. George's Harbor. Number 65 on the list of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. |
| Pudding | Small and barren. South of Stocks Harbor and west of St. David's. Its position saved it from destruction when the USA military bases were built from 1941. This was when it once again got the unofficial name of " Grog Island" - from the fact that a lot of drinking went on here, as it used to 300 years earlier. |
| Smith's | 61 acres, in St. George's Harbor, St. George's Parish. Named for Sir Thomas Smith or Smythe, the first Governor of what later became the Somers Isles Company, an office he still held at the time of his death in 1625. He was an empire builder of immense energy and ability. The island is historically very significant, Bermuda's first settlement. It was here that Carter, Chard and Waters, who got the reputation of being the three "Kings of Bermuda" from 1610 to 1612, settled when they were the first accidental permanent colonists in Bermuda. They built cabins of palmetto, planted beans, watermelons, tobacco, maize, fished of the coast, hunted wild hogs, salted bacon and fish they caught and even made a fresh water catch. When the Plough arrived from England on July 11, 1612 with the first party of planned colonists, it went first to St. David's to discharge them then went two days later to an anchorage on the south shore of Smith's Island. Carter, Chard and Waters proudly displayed to Governor Richard Moore the varieties of garden produce they had grown. Moore was delighted because the Somers Isles Company in London had supplied him with 81 varieties of seed to try in Bermuda. Many of the first crops Virginia and the later American colonies had ever seen were planted on Smith's Island. It was the original home in Bermuda of the first planned settlers and they even made rock ovens for their food from the local limestone until they moved to St. George's Island and the Town of St. George in the summer and autumn of 1612. Twenty three acres on the western one third of the island are now a recreational area for Bermuda youth, owned jointly by the Bermuda Government and the Bermuda National Trust. It comes under the National Parks Act 1986. The Bermuda National Trust bought the acreage for $850,000 and the Bermuda Government paid the Trust $200,000 for a 23.5 percent share in the acreage. Thanks to local residents Mr. and Mrs. Robert Basist, the Trust was able to reforest certain areas it owns of the island with cedar trees. |
| Whaler's | Near Smith's Island, St. George's Harbor. |
Named after a freed slave by that name who lived nearby.
A Bermuda National Park. Named after Captain Field E. Kindley, US Army Air Force, after whom this road, the former US Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda - see Former US military bases in Bermuda - and more landmarks are named. Number 53 on your free listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. This is to the east and north of the airport with marine views of Ferry Reach.
Southside.
Phone 293-5791. Named after Captain Field E.
Kindley, US Army Air Force,
after whom this road, the former US Kindley Air Force Base in Bermuda -
see Former
US military bases in Bermuda - and more landmarks are named. At the former Officers' Club at the former Kindley AFB/USNAS
military base, now civilianized. There are 4 asphalt courts, fees. Tennis attire
is mandatory.
Mentioned on the listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves.
After Victoria Hayward (1876-1958). As an adult, she lived abroad as a writer and wrote the text for Romantic Canada, a travel book illustrated by photographer Edna Watson. But she kept her Bermuda property in Emily's Bay Lane.
At Southside, created in 2005. For motor cyclists, scooters and more. Its annual season ends on October 31.
| Black Horse Tavern, Restaurant & Bar | 
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Phone 293-9742. 101 St. David's Road, St. David's Island, DD 01. John Gary Lamb. Lunch or dinner. Closed Mondays. $$$$ |
For others in Bermuda, Bermuda Cuisine.
Carter House, Southside Avenue, Southside, St. David's. (Circa 1640). Phone 293-5960. Open April to October on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 10 am-4 pm and 2nd Sunday each month 12 noon to 4 pm. Admission charge. Registered charity 606.
An organization of St. David's Islanders claiming descendents from Pequot and other American Indian tribes. There is an annual St. David's Island Indian Festival. It included native Americans from the Naragansett, Wampanoag, Mashantucket Pequots, Cherokee and other tribes. Some St. David's Islanders claim descent from these tribes. The committee embraces descendants of Native American Indians who were brought to Bermuda as slaves some 400 years ago and settled in St. David's. Its first festival was held in 2002 in St. David's, annually since then. Members include Sinclair (Brinky) Tucker. In late 2007 a high-ranking delegation from the Mashentucket Pequot Tribal Nation made a lightning visit to Bermuda, with a short tour of St. George's and St. David's, including a visit to the slave graves.
Mount Hill. Worth a visit and has an interesting historical backdrop. Lighthouse Road. One of the only two lighthouses in Bermuda, the second and smaller. Built in 1879 of Bermuda limestone and periodically refurbished, it still serves as a beacon for mariners. Its fixed while light enabled navigators to take cross bearings with the flashing beacon emitted by Gibb's Hill lighthouse in Southampton Parish. It was constructed to eliminate luring ships with other kinds of lights to come too close to the reefs and get their bottoms torn out. Local folk were notorious for plundering cargoes. When the lighthouse defeated their illegal activities, they became fishermen and excellent pilots. From the lighthouse's balcony, 208 feet above sea level, there are panoramic views. For details on access contact the Bermuda Government's Department of Marine and Ports.
Southside, built at a cost of $2.8 million and opened on time in January 2007.
See Former US military bases in Bermuda and
The only street on the former US base nearby named for Henry Mortimer Fox (1860-1942), a local landowner of considerable property, whaler and grower of arrowroot.
Until 1995 the site of the Officer's Mess at the former US Base, named from the fact that the hill was a look-out point for sighting whales or for seeing returning whaleboats.
Last Updated: May
13, 2008
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