Sam Lord's Castle

Still very worthy of mention despite its ruinous state, Sam Lord's Castle is still very much a part of Barbados' history.

 

suntours-ad-400x40

 

The shell of the formerly glorious Sam Lord's Castle resort occupies the land directly behind the beach. After falling into a state of disrepair several years ago this magnificent Regency mansion, built in 1820 by the famous buccaneer Samuel Hall Lord and the former holiday choice of many discerning overseas tourists, was finally gutted by fire on October 20th 2010. Whilst diverse opinions have been voiced regarding the circumstances surrounding this devastating blaze at Sam Lord's Castle in Barbados, the overall sentiment of the majority of Bajans was the loss of a piece of Barbadian history. To read one Bajan's dismayed response to the deterioration and ultimate downfall of Sam Lord's Castle in Barbados, read the reflections of Nation News' online editor Carol Martindale by clicking here.

 

The demise of Sam Lord's Castle resort has impacted enormously on visitors' ability to access the beach areas near the ruined buildings, and newcomers to Barbados are guarded against out of date tourist information that still advocates Sam Lord's Castle in Barbados as an 'attraction' or a 'place to visit'. This is not to say the area does not merit a visit - but you do need to have realistic expectations of what you expect to see, and the beach area is still definitely worth an outing.

 

Sam Lord

"He used to hang de lanterns 
on de coconut trees
 and lure the ships upon de reef 
and when de sailors thought
 they'd sighted land,
 alas they ran a ground
 alas they ran aground!"

 

Lyrics taken from a song by The Merrymen, a popular Barbados calypso band from the 1960s to early 2000s. The full title was 'Legend of Sam Lord', released again in 2004 on an album entitled 'The Merrymen sing Beautiful Barbados'.

 

00-3

 

2019 BPG SunAds bit
2019 BPG SunAds imart