
WATERWORKS
LaGuerite Reservoir
La Guerite Reservoir serves the town of Basseterre
and its environs. There is an interesting piece
of architecture at its entrance, a retaining wall
supporting the large undercover reservoir. It
is believed to be a 19th century structure built
around 1869 when the water supply to Basseterre
was upgraded.
Half
Way Tree Cistern
One
of the remarkable features of an island tour of
St. Kitts is the system of public cisterns found
in each of the villages, beautifully constructed
of cut stone, each having its own design, the
size reflecting the community the cistern was
expected to serve. The larger ones are buttressed
for support, while the very small ones stand along.
Each cistern has one or more pipes from which
villagers might collect water from this public
water supply for personal and other use. Another
feature of these cisterns is that most of them
have a postbox inserted in one of the walls, many
of them still in use by the General Post Office
This village water cistern on
Half Way Tree has been chosen because of its structural
beauty. It typifies the village cisterns found
throughout the island
Wingfield
River and Waterworks
When
the English arrived in the 17th. Century and were
allowed to settle between the two rivers (Wingfield
and East Rivers) at Old Road, the Caribs were
concentrated in the area around Wingfield River.
After the evictions
of the Caribs in 1629, the English settled the
lands in the area and cultivated tobacco, ginger,
indigo and cotton. With the introduction of sugar
in the 1640’s, Wingfield developed into
a major sugar plantation and one of the very few
on the island to use water to power its factory
works. The aqueduct is a unique architectural
feature on the island and found only at Wingfield
Estate Yard.
The nearby river and its forested
watershed has always been a major resource for
the area. Like all plantations on St. Kitts, Wingfield
provided for its own fresh water needs. Since
the 19th Century it has formed part of the public
water supply system serving the population on
the leeward side of the island.
There are four dams built across
the Wingfield River: the first dam, the largest,
collects the water at the highest point along
the river course and is the main catchment from
where water is piped for distribution to households.
The three other dams are no longer used except
to intercept the rush of water down the river.
At one time they were part of the system that
fed Wingfield estate.
| Information
compiled by the St.Christopher Heritage Society.
For information on many more Historical Sites,
you may visit them at www.stkittsheritage.org
or give them a call at tel: 869-465-5584 |
|