Historic Town of Saint George - Bermuda - World Heritage Sites on Waymarking.com

In 1609, Sir George Somers was appointed as Admiral of the Virginia Company's Third Supply relief fleet and was sent to the Jamestown colony in present day Virginia. On June 2, 1609, he sailed from Plymouth, England on the Sea Venture, the flagship of the seven-ship fleet. The ships encounter a storm on July 25th and were separated. The Sea Venture began to leak rapidly. On July 28th he spotted land, what is now Bermuda. He had to purposely drive his ship on a reef to prevent it from sinking. All of the 150 people on board were able to safely reach shore.

While ashore, the crew and passengers built a church and houses at present day St. George. This was the beginning of the settlement of the Bermuda colony. Admiral Somers oversaw the construction of two small ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, from local timber and the wreckage of the Sea venture. They then and sailed to the original destination, the Jamestown Colony, to deliver much needed supplies. Thus enabling the survival of the colony.

The original St Peter's church was constructed in 1612 at the site of the present church. It is considered to be the oldest continuously used Anglican Church in the New World. The wood framed structure has limestone walls and a limestone slate roof. The interior features exposed cedar beams and commemorative plaques.

Most of the present structure dates from 1713, but the steeple is a later additions. The first Bermuda Parliament met here in 1620, making it the 3rd oldest parliament in the world. Bermuda's first newspaper publisher, Joseph Stockdale, is buried beneath the church floor.

The Town Hall in St. George, Bermuda was originally constructed in 1782. The building is constructed with Bermuda cedar for the interior, ceiling and floor. A flagstone from Berne Manor, Dorset, England the hometown of the founder of St. George, Sir George Somers, is laid at the entrance way of the town hall. A large coat-of-arms of the town decorated the front of the building. A portrait gallery contains the images of notable persons in the history of St. George, past and present.

Type: Site Reference number: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/983/multiple=1&unique_number=1147

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/20/2019 gmarkusic visited it 05/22/1984 adgorn visited it

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