Maidstone Anglican Church
MANDEVILLE, Manchester:
SOME TOWNS and districts will be showing off their new buildings and infrastructure during the Emancipation celebrations.
However, Maidstone, one of the first free villages in Jamaica, will be showcasing its history. Two miles to west of Mandeville, this district holds volumes of history preserved within the walls of various buildings, caves, trails, artefacts and memories of descendants of the 17th and 18th centuries.
From the town square looking in a westerly direction, your eyes are greeted by the Maidstone Anglican Church perched on a hill like an angel keeping watch with the architectural grace of an Egyptian pyramid.
Built on its present site in 1888 with the original material including its cut stones, the church was at another location for 50 years before being relocated. A short distance away in fairly good condition is a slave hospital which is said to have been built when the first slaves arrived in the district. The lone cemetery only yards away from the town square by its head stones tells the nationality or the inhabitants and their longevity. The graves of slave and land owners with their headstones still intact include William Henry Oats who died in 1887.
Hikes on original trails
Hendrick's great, great grand daughter Adeline Hendricks-Hepburn, now 91, remains vibrant and strong in the community as she verbally hands down to the present generation the history of her village. The residents of the community, including the teachers of its all-age school and the Manchester Cultural Development Committee will be hosting a fair on the grounds of the all-age school to highlight its history on Tuesday, August 1. Persons attending the fair, which is free to the public, will be treated to foods as they were prepared during the days of slavery; hikes on the original trails used by slaves and pictorial and artefacts displays. Some of the districts citizens ranging in age upwards to 108 will be on hand to tell of their experiences, including the stories associated with Trial Hill. Trial Hill, which still bears the name, is said to be where slaves were tried and punished for infractions of their master's rules.
In spite of its history, however, Maidstone has managed to take on modern day improvements without losing its history, heritage and culture.
