Morgan Lewis Windmill

Barbados had well over five hundred sugar windmills at its peak and Morgan Lewis is one of only a very few left in the Caribbean with its machinery intact: the tower, the cap, the sails and the wooden rollers that crushed the cane, restored by the National Trust in the 1990s. It stands on an exposed ridge above the Scotland District with the Atlantic beyond, which is why the mill was sited there in the first place. On certain days through the season the sails are turned and cane is crushed, which is the thing worth timing a visit around. Inside, the crushing floor and gearing can be climbed to.

What you actually see

• The intact machinery - the only complete sugar windmill left in the region.
• The wooden rollers - the crushing gear on the working floor.
• The ridge position - the Scotland District and Atlantic beyond.
• Grinding days - when the sails turn and cane is crushed.

When to go

December to April is the dry season. Grinding demonstrations run on set days, generally in the first months of the year during the cane harvest; check with the National Trust, since it is a very different visit with the sails turning.

Honest expectations

Without a grinding day it is a static mill and takes half an hour. Opening hours have been limited and the site has closed for periods for repair. The ridge is exposed and windy. The road there is narrow.

Nearby

Cherry Tree Hill is ten minutes; the east coast road is below.