Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua (Part 1)

Boat House Pillars, Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua

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Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua (Part 1)

One of the advantages of staying on the island is that you can visit the major tourist attractions on the one day a week when there are no cruise ships in port.  This is definitely the time to visit Nelson’s Dockyard at English Harbour at the southern end of the island. This is the only Georgian naval facility still in use in the world today and should be on everyone’s itinerary.

Anchor & Chain in Garden of Admiral’s Inn Hotel, Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua

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The dockyard dates from 1743, although most of the preserved buildings were constructed towards the end of the 18th century.  Its purpose was as a careening station, where British navy ships were scraped to remove barnacles, be repaired, and restocked with water and supplies.  The harbour on which it sits was originally chosen as a hurricane haven in the 1670s for the ships that protected the West Indies colonies.  It is said that not a single ship has even been lost in this harbour during a hurricane.

Horatio Nelson (neither a Lord nor Admiral at the time) was in command here from 1784 to 1787.  His brief was to enforce the Navigation Acts, which prohibited direct trade between the newly independent states of America and the British colonies.

Boat House Pillars, Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua

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One of the first places you come to is a rectangle of huge pillars.  They once formed the the lower floor of the Boat and Sail Loft.  A sail house was perched on top, and designed to enable the hulls of the ships to be cleaned and repaired below whilst the sails received attention above.  The pillars have been capped as part of the renovations to prevent further erosion.

Boat House Pillars, Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua

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We will visit other parts of the dockyard in the next few posts.