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Georgetown is the capital and chief settlement of
Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory of ...
, in the
British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...
of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, situated on the west coast of the island. The town is centred on St Mary's Church, part of the Anglican Diocese of St Helena and the former Exiles Club, built as a
Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious warfare, amphibious light infantry and also one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighti ...
barracks at the time of
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
's exile to
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constit ...
in the early 19th century. The town is named after
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great B ...
, who reigned at the time the island was claimed for Britain and garrisoned by the Admiralty in 1815. As well as the church, there is a pier, an athletics track, a small supermarket,
Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...
post office, snackbar, hotel, police station, Georgetown
Hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...
, dental surgery, and a library. There is no school, however, and pupils travel to Two Boats village, 3 miles inland.


Naval history

A naval base was established at Georgetown in 1816 due to British concerns that the French might make use of the island to attempt a rescue of their exiled former Emperor. Following Napoleon's death in 1821, the settlement found a new role as a supply, maintenance and
victualling A victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea. There are a number of other more particular uses of the term, such as: * The official supplier of food to the Royal Navy in ...
base for the
West Africa Squadron The West Africa Squadron, also known as the Preventative Squadron, was a squadron of the British Royal Navy whose goal was to suppress the Atlantic slave trade by patrolling the coast of West Africa. Formed in 1808 after the British Parliam ...
. Local
tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...
was used for building, but everything else had to be imported (including seeds, vegetables and fruit trees, all of which were cultivated on
Green Mountain Green Mountain is a common name for "The Peak", the highest point on Ascension Island, which has gained some fame for claims that it is one of very few large-scale artificial forests. History and vegetation Many early 19th-century accounts, inc ...
to supplement the locally-available diet of turtle meat). By 1829 a small jetty had been constructed as well as several buildings on what is now the Regent Square area, close to the sea (including a hospital – the West Africa Squadron was notoriously prone to sickness). In June 1829 a Lieutenant of the Royal Engineers, Henry Brandreth, arrived on Ascension with a remit to survey the facilities there and make recommendations for their improvement. He condemned what he found as, for the most part, 'miserable tenements ... inhabited by vermin'. Together with the local commandant, he recommended re-establishing the settlement a little way back from the sea on the elevated plateau which Georgetown occupies today. Having returned to England to oversee the supply and manufacture of certain items for the island, he returned in 1830 to begin work on this project. A key innovation was the construction of St George's Water Tank, which can still be seen today: water was channelled to it from the mountain top, as well as from every roof in Georgetown, and from here it was fed by a windpump into a header tank for distribution to local buildings (and, via a pipeline, to the pierhead for transfer to ships). The Marine Barracks building also dates from this period, as do several other buildings including Georgetown's hospital, which continues to fulfil the purpose for which it was built. The site of the old settlement, closer to the sea, was then used for storage and maintenance (the surviving Main Storehouse of 1848 was once claimed to be the largest building in the southern hemisphere). Before long, to meet the demands of an increasingly steam-powered navy, coaling facilities were built, and in 1862 a 'steam factory' housing metalworkers, a machine shop and smelting works, was established. Georgetown continued to serve as a strategic base for the Navy through the 20th century, though after 1899 the site was increasingly administered by the Eastern Telegraph Company. When in 1922 the Board of the Admiralty ceded Ascension Island to the Colonial Office, an exchange of correspondence indicates that one thing its officials wished to preserve was their annual gift of turtle soup from Georgetown (an annual perquisite apparently enjoyed since 1816).


Forts

On 22 October 1815 HMS ''Peruvian'' and HMS ''Zenobia'' anchored in the
roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5 ...
off Georgetown to claim the island for the British Crown. Once ashore, one of the first tasks undertaken by the sailors was to set up a pair of cannons on the promontory in the harbour to provide some defence. This battery became known as Fort Cockburn (renamed in the middle of the century Fort Thornton). A second fort was established on a site called Goat Hill further to the west in around 1860 (Fort Hayes) and a third, Fort Bedford, on the hill overlooking the town called Cross Hill. Fort Bedford, which dates from 1903, still has some Victorian cannons, as well as a pair of BL 5.5 inch Mark I naval guns that were originally fitted to . These guns were used to repel a German attack by ''U-124'' on 9 December 1941 during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
with surprisingly great success as the Germans did not approach the island again. Fort Hayes until recently housed the museum of the Ascension Island Heritage Society.


Present-day Georgetown

The town is a centre of culture on Ascension. It usually hosts local athletics events as well as being the start of the annual dew pond race from sea level to the highest point on the island on
Green Mountain Green Mountain is a common name for "The Peak", the highest point on Ascension Island, which has gained some fame for claims that it is one of very few large-scale artificial forests. History and vegetation Many early 19th-century accounts, inc ...
.
Ascension Day The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...
activities (to celebrate the discovery of Ascension) are either hosted here or in nearby Two Boats village. the population was about 450. Nearby Long Beach is an important nesting ground for the giant Green turtle.


Georgetown Cemetery

A cemetery was begun some time in the early 19th century. It was used both for deaths on the island and for burial of persons dying on ships within one day's sail of the island. Graves of note include Captain William Bafe and his crew, and Commodore Reginald Thomas John Levinge of the Levinge baronets. File:Georgetown in the distance.jpg, Georgetown in the distance, from atop Green Mountain. File:ST. MARY'S CHURCH - ASCENSION ISLAND.jpg, St Mary's Church File:Georgetown_Old_Barracks.jpg, The Old Barracks, Georgetown. File:Georgetown Ascension3.JPG, The island's post office in Georgetown.


See also

* List of towns in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha


References


External links


Diocese of St Helena
Parish of St Mary the Virgin
BBC Weather
Georgetown climate figures {{Authority control Ascension Island Populated places established in 1815 Populated places in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Geography of Ascension Island 1815 establishments in the British Empire 1815 establishments in Africa Ports and harbours of British Overseas Territories