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Island History – Archaeological Significance
As with so much of the Nevis Island, Herbert Heights has it's own share of history. The site Herbert Heights is the modern day name of a Nevisian leisure venture above the village of Rawlins, in the parish of St George, Gingerland. Above Herbert Heights, at an altitude of about 1300 feet above sea level are the ruins of a long abandoned sugar plantation, first established in the 17th century. The Archaeological Survey An archaeological survey of the ruins was undertaken in the summer of 2003, following clearance of the vegetation. The survey showed that the ruins consist of a number of distinct elements. Overall the ruins lie within a roughly rectangular rubble stone walled enclosure, with entrances on at least three sides providing access from the fields and to the lands and road system below. Uphill towards the center of the yard was the mill. The site of the mill is now a roughly level platform, terraced back into the hillside. On the west side of the yard, below the mill, were the sugar works, with a boiling house and other buildings that would have included the curing house, where the brown sugar was allowed to crystallize before being taken away for export. Below these buildings was a circular water cistern, collecting the water that fell on the roofs of the works. On the east side of the yard, below the mill, was the planter’s house; the site of this house is now a level platform about 35 feet in length. Adjacent and uphill are structures that may have included the kitchen. Below these buildings was a second cistern, similar to that below the works but collecting the water that fell on the roofs of the house, kitchen and possibly other adjacent buildings. Closer to the walls around the plantation yard are possibly the sites of other buildings. These are now level platforms terraced back into the hillside. Historical Records On present evidence it seems likely that the ruins are of a sugar plantation established in the second half of the 17th century. Sugar production became of paramount importance in the economy of the Eastern Caribbean from the 1650s onwards. On Nevis writers in the early 18th century recorded that the land was cleared almost to the top of the mountain. Ascending the mountain the slope becomes steeper. On these higher steeper slopes much of the soil may have been washed away at an early date. Plantations such as the ruins above Herbert Heights may have been abandoned just a few decades after being established. The excavations are intended to provide insights into this transformation of the landscape, the clearance of these upper slopes and their subsequent abandonment.
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