Betty's Hope

Betty's Hope was granted to the Codrington family in 1674 and became the model for Antigua's sugar economy, worked by enslaved Africans for a century and a half, and two of its stone windmill towers survive, one restored to working order with sails and machinery. A small museum in the old cotton house covers the estate, the technology and the people who were enslaved on it. The rest of the site is foundations in open ground.

Background

The estate lies in Diamonds, in Antigua, and its history begins in the early 1650s with its founder, Governor Christopher Keynell. It was Antigua's first large-scale sugar plantation. Christopher Codrington acquired it in 1674 and named it after his daughter, and his family kept it until 1944. In 1680 there were 393 enslaved people working here, and after emancipation in 1834 they continued on the estate as freed workers. The Boiling House held sixteen copper hoppers for turning cane juice into sugar, and the Still House was a rum distillery. Restoration began in 1990, and since 1995 the site has been an open-air museum, with a visitor centre.

Source: Wikipedia, "Betty's Hope"

Highlights

• The restored windmill - one tower with sails and grinding machinery reinstated.
• The second tower - the unrestored mill standing alongside.
• The estate museum - the account of the sugar works and the enslaved workforce.
• The foundations - the boiling house and other buildings visible in outline.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. The museum keeps limited weekday hours. There is no shade on the site.

Practical notes

The museum keeps short hours and is often closed, which removes much of the interpretation. Most of the estate is foundations that take reading. There is no shade anywhere.

Nearby

Devil's Bridge is east, and Parham is north.

Key facts