Bermuda's St. David's Island

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Bermuda's St. David's Island

In St. George's Parish but with a unique flavor and character

To refer to this web file use "bermuda-online.org/seestdavids.htm" as your Subject

Introduction

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.

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:

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.

Photo taken at St. David's Cathedral, Wales by the author exclusively for Bermuda Online.

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. See the books:

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. Some St. David's Islanders who were born and bred there and proudly claim kinship with American native Indian tribes regard those who do not as incomers. As of November 18, 2007 St. David's had 1,404 registered voters, an increase of 339 people since the 2003 election.

The map below

This shows the layout of the Parish but not the physical boundary of the Town of St. George in the Parish. Both are different. The bus route does not go as far as Fort St. Catherine, which in the Parish but not the Town.

Annie's Bay

Once Mis' Annie's Bay, believed to be after Ann Fox, widow (1835) of Copeland Fox.

Bermuda Forts

Those in St. David's - this part of St. George's Parish - include the following: some of the oldest and most historic, as well as most picturesque in Bermuda.

Bermuda Police Service

Bus route

St. George's to St. David's. This area of the Parish is served by the # 6 route, not very frequent compared to other Bermuda routes. See the schedule available free from the bus terminal in Hamilton and note its times on Monday to Friday, Saturday, and Sunday & Holiday.

Carter House

The society, which does not have Internet access, is a museum of Bermudian history.

Carter's Bay

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.

Clearwater Beach and Park

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.

Dolly's Bay

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.

Fox's Hill

Grazbury Bay

Golf Courses

Great Bay

Great Head Battery and National Park

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.

Grog Harbour

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.

Islands in the area

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.

Jinny Jennings Lane

Kindley Field Road

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.

Kindley Community Tennis Courts

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.

Little Head National Park

Miss Vicky's Lane

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.

Motorsport Park

At Southside, created in 2005. For motor cyclists, scooters and more. Its annual season ends on October 31.

Restaurants in the area

St. David's Island Historical Society

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.

St. David's Islanders & Native Community

An organization of St. David's Islanders claiming descendents from Pequot and other American Indian tribes. There is a bi-annual St. David's Island Indian Festival with the first one held in 2002. It included native Americans from the Naragansett, Wampanoag, Mashantucket Pequots, Cherokee and other tribes. Some St. David's Islanders claim descent from these tribes. They are descendants of Native American Indians who were brought to Bermuda as slaves some 400 years ago and settled in St. David's. 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.

In December 2008 an email was received by Jeffrey Howe, Jeff50@cox.net, a volunteer researcher with the Rhode Island Historical Society Library. He seeks information to confirm or put to rest the long-held contention that there were Wampanoag Indians sold into slavery in Bermuda after King Phillips war 1676. If you have any firm information, please email him.

St. David's Lighthouse

Lighthouse Road at Mount Hill, St. David's Island, St. George's Parish. Phone (441) 297-4481.

Overlooking the South Shore, this famous 131+ years old lighthouse owned by the Bermuda Government is a landmark, a sturdy Bermuda Stone (limestone of a type unique to Bermuda and then commonly used in building construction as a cheap local source of building materials. The structure is 55 high to the lantern. It shows a fixed white light of the second order, about 30,000 candlepower, 208 feet above sea level. Since November 3, 1879 it has been warning ships. It was deliberately constructed inland, on a hill, not on the shore line, to be seen from afar. Since then it has undergone many changes and improvements. Instead of the original kerosene burner of the ordinary wick type it had a hood petroleum burner installed in June 1922.

Views from the balcony are superb, looking east over land and water and also westward. In Tall Ship races since 1976 and numerous Newport to Bermuda and other bi-annual yacht races, it provides sailors with their first impressive glimpses of Bermuda.

Well worth a visit, especially if already in the St. George's/St. David's area (to avoid a miles-long detour). With an interesting historical backdrop and also, from the lighthouse, an appreciation of the very high population density of Bermuda of about 3.400 per square mile. One of the only two lighthouses in Bermuda, the second and smaller. Its 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 St. David's Islanders were notorious for plundering cargoes. When the lighthouse defeated their illegal activities, they became fishermen and excellent pilots. For details on access contact the Bermuda Government's Department of Marine and Ports, or Bermuda's Ministry of the Environment.

David’s Police station

Southside

Street names

Southside Urgent Care Centre

On the former US baseland at Southside on land leased to the Bermuda Hospitals Board by the Bermuda Land Development Corporation. The first of two UCCs planned for Bermuda, with the goal of improving access to care for people in the East and West of the Island. The Western UCC will be in Southampton, but the initial focus was on completing this Eastern UCC due to the potential for the causeway to become impassable during and after hurricanes. It is due to open by April 2009.

The UCCs will offer close-to-home care for people who have minor accidents or sudden illnesses in the East or West of Bermuda. King Edward VII Memorial Hospital will remain the central emergency care centre and will deal with life-threatening injuries and conditions due to its advanced diagnostic and surgical services. Current healthcare services are largely concentrated near or within the City of Hamilton and the concern is to improve access to urgent care for our communities at either end of the Island. With the Emergency Department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital under increasing pressure with the numbers increasing each year, in 2007 there were about such 35,000 visits.

This leads to longer waits for people, especially for the kinds of non-life-threatening injuries that the UCCs will be able to deal with. UCCs should help us reduce pressure at the centre, and also reduce wait times for people at the UCC and hospital.

The UCCs will be managed by the Bermuda Hospitals Board to ensure it dovetails into the Island’s overall emergency service. Basic diagnostic equipment (such as ultrasound and x-ray), pharmacy and laboratory (blood test) services will be provided. In the event of a disaster at either end of the island, they will also function as a Disaster Centre to deal with casualties. Clinical services at the UCC will be overseen by BHB’s Director of Emergency.

It is important for the public to understand the scope of services that UCCs will provide. Patients with major medical and surgical emergencies will still need to attend the Emergency Department at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital because of the far greater array of support services that will continue to be offered there.

It will also serve as a 'disaster centre' in the event of a natural catastrophe or air crash at the Bermuda International Airport close by. In that scenario, three to four disaster recovery tents for emergency medical procedures will be set up in the car park in the event of a disaster situation such as hurricane or an airport crash at or near the airport. It has been approved by Planning, The facility will be staffed by up to five full-time medical staff and three ancillary staff, providing outpatient emergency care plus triage for patients on their way to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. Ambulances will access the centre from Southside Road, with all other vehicles entering off Hall Street. In approving the plans, the Development Applications Board said: "The emergency care facility will have a potentially significant impact on health services in the east and therefore has national importance. From a planning perspective the proposal is considered reasonable." The Urgent Care Centre will open between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. and anticipates an average of 12 outpatients per day. It will feature treatment rooms, a lab and radiography, pharmacy, nurses station, reception area, staff lounge, information technology room and ambulance station.

Supermarkets

Texas Road

At the eastern end, not far from St. David's Lighthouse. It is more of a neighbourhood than a road as it also includes Lighthouse Road. Include land bought and used for the relocation of local families made homeless by the construction of Fort Bell, later the US Army Air Force, later US Air Force, later the United States Naval Air Station, before it was decommissioned in 1995 and became civilian Southside. The replacement homes in the neighborhood were built by the same US military construction units. Wartime residents there bestowed the name Texas in honor of natives from Texas, USA, many of whom were construction workers and US servicemen. Their laid-back manners and ways were especially appreciated by displaced St. David's Islanders and were mostly responsible for bringing Bermuda's once most-isolated community into the 20th century.

Tommy Fox Road

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.

Turtle Beach

Next to Clearwater Beach. A nice swimming area., once reserved solely for the US Armed Forces, but public since 1997, two years after the US bases left.

Whaler's Hill

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.

City of Hamilton	Hamilton Parish	Paget Parish	Pembroke Parish	Sandys Parish
Smith's Parish	Southampton Parish	St. George's Parish	Town of St. George	Warwick Parish

Bermuda's St. David's Island

In St. George's Parish but with a unique flavor and character

Introduction

The map below

Annie's Bay

Bermuda Forts

Bermuda Police Service

Bus route

Carter House

Carter's Bay

Clearwater Beach and Park

Dolly's Bay

Fox's Hill

Grazbury Bay

Golf Courses

Great Bay

Great Head Battery and National Park

Grog Harbour

Islands in the area

Jinny Jennings Lane

Kindley Field Road

Kindley Community Tennis Courts

Little Head National Park

Miss Vicky's Lane

Motorsport Park

Restaurants in the area

St. David's Island Historical Society

St. David's Islanders & Native Community

St. David's Lighthouse

David’s Police station

Southside

Street names

Southside Urgent Care Centre

Supermarkets

Texas Road

Tommy Fox Road

Turtle Beach

Whaler's Hill

Other Bermuda geographic areas

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