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Watchhouses,
or slavevagterbusene as they are called in estate
inventories of the 18th and 19th centuries, seem to be a Danish West
Indian (American Virgin Islands) phenomenon. Even so, old maps and
inventories do not show them to be as common as we once thought.
Today, there are none extant on St. Thomas and St. John and on St. Croix
only seven can easily be spotted, though probably a few more still exist
in the "bush" or less accessible areas. Of these seven, three are in
the area of Estate Betty's Hope. near the airport, one was moved from
Estate Little Princess and reconstructed at Whim Museum, and a few more
remain at the edge of roads across the middle of the island.
 The
primary purpose of these buildings is evident from the Danish nomenclature
slavebagterhus, which translated means guard house.
Each stood alone at the juncture of several fields or not far from the
"villages." Fear of fire, natural or set, was a common concern among
the planters of sugar cane. Rapidly spreading fire could result in
devastation to a planter dependent on this one crop which matures only
every eighteen months. Even today, during the dri months, we are
reminded of this fear while watching much of the island's fields burn,
often started by spontaneous combustion.
One can only suppose that fires were not the only concern for the
slaves who were assigned to guard in the Watchhouses. Runaways, or
other disobedients, could be spotted or, as legend holds today, newborns
could be fed and cared for close to the fields so as not to interrupt
their mothers' work. Another logical usage would have been as a tool
shed, though if so, this is undoubtedly a fairly modern application.
The architecture of these small structures averaging 8' x 10' in size,
certainly belies the simple uses that are attributed to it. The two
foot thickness of the walls, the three slit openings for light, the
gracefully arched door and, above all, the handsome barrel-vaulted
ceiling, together form a design which suggests a loftier function than
research has
revealed. However, it may just be that, during Danish times, "good
architecture," that elusive combination of useful and beautiful, became a
prerequisite for all building. From the largest most important state
buildings to the smallest, humblest huts, all structures seemed to have
been both practical and handsome with a classical simplicity still admired
by the antiquarian and modernist alike. The plantation watchhouse,
probably the humblest of huts epitomizes the attention given to detail of
design and skilled craftsmanship by the former Europeans and Africans who
now call the West Indies home.
One of these remarkable structures has been restored at Estate Betty's
Hope through the joint efforts of Texaco Caribbean Inc. and the St. Croix
Landmarks Society. With this project, one step was taken toward
preserving a link to the past as a bridge to the future and a greater
understanding of St. Croix's history |
