
The
architecture of
Bermuda has developed over the past four centuries. The archipelago's isolation, environment, climate, and scarce resources have been key driving points, though inspiration from Europe, the Caribbean and the Americas is evident. Distinctive elements appeared with initial settlement in the early 17th century, and by the second half of that century features that remain common today began to appear.
Pastel Bermuda
cottage
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a Cotter (farmer), cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager ...
s are often regarded as a hallmark of the island, along with pink beaches and
Bermuda shorts
__NOTOC__
Bermuda shorts, also known as walk shorts or dress shorts, are a particular type of short trousers, worn as semi-casual attire by both men and women. The hem, which can be cuffed or un-cuffed, is around above the knee.
They are so-nam ...
; the style has even been described as the country's only indigenous art form.
[The Town of St. George World Heritage Site: Advice for renovating, restoring, maintaining or developing a building within the Town of St. George]
In addition to the local style, historical military buildings and forts and
modern office buildings are highly visible. The historical architecture of Bermuda has received recognition from
UNESCO, with the
Town of St. George and some twenty-two forts and military facilities in
St. George's Parish being declared
World Heritage Sites.
Bermuda style

The archetypical Bermuda house is a low, squared building with a stepped, white roof and pastel-painted walls, both of which are made out of stone. Between roof and wall are a series of
eaves painted a third colour, which is also used on the wooden shutters of relatively small windows. Often built on a slope, there is a set of stairs, wider at the base than at the top, leading up to a porch or
veranda around the front door. Rare embellishments include a brick pattern down the corners of the building, and narrow
moulding to highlight features such as windows.
The roofs are designed to catch water, of which there is no fresh supply in Bermuda apart from rain. The walls are designed to restrict damage from hurricanes and are required by law to be able to withstand wind speeds of over .
Houses are often given names.
History and development
Initial development (1600–1700)

The predominance of stone as a building material came about early in Bermuda's history. The first settlers built using the native and abundant
Bermuda cedar, but such structures were rarely able to withstand either the normal winds or the occasional
hurricane.
[Raine, David F. ''Architecture Bermuda Style'' (Bermuda: Pompano 1988), p. 11] Furthermore, the
Somers Isles Company intended to exploit the value of cedar wood, particularly for shipbuilding, and soon passed laws that forbade the felling and use of that wood without express permission. The only material left for settlers to use was Bermuda's
limestone foundation (often called "
coral" for its origin), with the stone being cut into square bricks – typically about by .
This method of using large stone blocks proved expensive, with one 1890 estimate being that a Bermuda house cost three times more than it should. The main cause of this expense was high labour costs, though the rarity of building-quality limestone also contributed. However, this did not prove expensive enough to price the poor – particularly blacks – out of the market, thus restricting the growth of
shanty towns.
[Drysdale, William.]
"Bermuda's stone houses; how the soft rock is cut and hardened"
''New York Times'', March 30, 1980.
The archetypical house of the late 17th century had several distinguishing features. The building was usually quite simple in design, with a similar plan to a contemporary English farmhouse. Though usually only one storey tall, most were built facing out from slopes (possibly to preserve the comparatively fertile valleys for agriculture, a dominant industry until the 20th century
), thus necessitating a set of steps to the front entrance. These staircases were styled to curve out, so ending up far wider at the base than at the top. This flared style, known locally today as "Welcoming Arm" stairs, remains common.
[Raine, p. 23] Less common variants used parallel arms, and in the narrow streets of the Town of St. George staircases were often flush with the wall.
[Jarvis, Michael, ''Bermuda Architectural Heritage Series: St. George's'' ( Bermuda National Trust: 1998), p. 91] At the top of the stairs would be a porch-like
vestibule
Vestibule or Vestibulum can have the following meanings, each primarily based upon a common origin, from early 17th century French, derived from Latin ''vestibulum, -i n.'' "entrance court".
Anatomy
In general, vestibule is a small space or cavity ...
, larger than was common elsewhere, where visitors and passersby could rest in the shade. These porch areas were continuously expanded with furniture and
muslin mosquito nets.
[Raine, p. 21] Wooden
window shutters became common, particularly "jalousies" — which were hinged at the top — that were probably imported from the
West Indies. Food was often stored in a buttery separate from the main house, which was designed to keep food cool. This was achieved by keeping the actual storage room raised above the ground, typically five or six steps worth of height, and using a pointed roof, enabling
convective heat transfer to keep warm air from the food. Kitchens were also distinctive, occasionally placed in out-buildings or in basements and noted for the use of wide, raised chimneys possibly inspired by the open
hearth
A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...
.
[Raine, p. 22]

The earliest roofing was made of
palmetto
Palmetto (meaning "little palm") may refer to:
Palms
Several small palms in the Arecaceae (palm tree) family:
*in the genus '' Sabal'':
**Bermuda palmetto, ''Sabal bermudana''
**Birmingham palmetto, ''Sabal'' 'Birmingham'
**Dwarf, or bush palm ...
thatch but, partially from encouragement from the colonial government,
[Raine, p. 14] stone shingles slowly came to be preferred. By 1687, only 29 of the 579 houses in Bermuda had been upgraded to stone and only 63 were shingled.
[Chudleigh, Diana. ''Bermuda Architectural Heritage Series: Smith's Parish'' ( Bermuda National Trust: 2005).]
The buildings were originally quite plain, due to the brittleness of limestone and lingering
Puritanical asceticism
Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...
. Only two means of decor have been observed in 17th century buildings: "Eyebrow Windows" and
gable-ends. The former may have been inspired by the
Gothic architecture of churches.
[Raine, p. 24] By the start of the 18th century, the latter, inspired by contemporary
Stuart architecture and demonstrating resistance to hurricane damage when buttressed by a chimney,
[Trimingham, Michael. ''Bermuda Architectural Heritage Series: St. George's'' ( Bermuda National Trust: 1998) p. 35] had splintered into three distinct styles: stepped, bowed and scalloped, with evident similarities to Spanish and Portuguese colonial architecture.
Owing to the lack of water sources on the island, roofs were and are still used for
rainwater collection
Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is the collection and storage of rain, rather than allowing it to run off. Rainwater is collected from a roof-like surface and redirected to a tank, cistern, deep pit (well, shaft, or borehole), aquifer, or a reservoir w ...
. Early water tanks were placed not underground, but in adjacent stone structures later likened by one American observer to a
lean-to. These tanks were fed via a stone gutter from the roof.
Sunk six to eight feet down, they were typically rectangular and appeared barrel-vaulted above the surface.
A distinctive style of developed, with a stepped profile of limestone slabs,
grouted to make it impermeable and to stay clean. Rain on such a roof is slowed by the steps, rather than sloping tiles, and is collected by the gutter. This dependence on harvester rain led to a culture of water conservation, even with today's
desalination plants.
Interior wooden elements such as the ceiling and floors would be made of wood, often
pine or
hemlock from the
continent.
Middle period (1700–1900)

Into the 18th century, the settlement in Bermuda, and thus the architecture of Bermuda, had been developing for a century. In 1712 and 1714, two particularly bad hurricane strikes showcased the need for the resilient local structures in lieu of European designs, thus ensuring that local architecture would continue to progress.
[Campbell, Colin. "Wooden Houses", Dale Butler, JP MP, ''The Wooden Houses of Bermuda'' (Atlantic Publishing: Florida 2006)]
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I, George II, Georg ...
, at least in the British sense, did not catch on in Bermuda,
[Raine, p. 39] though the contemporary local style did resemble the
"colonial Georgian" of North America.
[Bandon, Alexandra and Amy Hughes.]
"The Family Plan: The Georgian Style"
''This Old House'', p. 2 During the 18th century embellishing buildings with decoration and adopting elements from
Chinese and
Neo-Classical architecture became common.
Finials, a
chinoiserie fad in both Europe and North America, appeared on gable-ends and buttery pinnacles.
While the original, ten-to-fifty inch Chinese finials were elaborate designs of
porcelain glazed yellow, green, red, blue, orange and buff, those in Bermuda, made of brittle local limestone, remained stone-coloured and rarely exceeded fifteen inches (381 mm). Another Chinese architectural import was the now-iconic
Moongate. Again, the Bermudian version was made of limestone and, unlike the Asian originals, not sunken into walls.
Stone pillars came into vogue, adorning driveway entrances. Square, instead of the cylindrical of their Neo-Classical inspiration, these pillars were crowned with
capitals
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of heterodox stone slabs stacked on top of each other to give a geometric pattern. While
eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
in the West Indies tended to be made large enough to provide shade, those in Bermuda were kept shallow — less than a foot — to reduce damage from
hurricane wind, which could push against larger eaves and lift the roof off.
Jack-rafters, also known as rafter-feet, were toyed with as decoration.
[Raine, p. 40] They were left exposed, similar to
corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s, and painted a colour that contrasted with the roof and walls.
[Raine, p. 41]
Internally, well-steeped
tray ceilings
A tray is a shallow platform designed for the carrying of items. It can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, paperboard, wood, melamine, and molded pulp. Trays range in cost from inexpensive molded pul ...
replaced the open-beamed
Tudor style. Above this, the roofs changed considerably. The
hip roof, shallower than its predecessors, was adopted,
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 72] and roofing slates of thin, handcut limestone slabs replaced shingles. These slates were slightly over an inch thick, and ten to twelve inches (305 mm) long; laid over a cedar frame in an overlapping pattern, they gave a down-stepped appearance. Finally, the roofs were coated with a mixture of lime, sand and water and, when available, turtle and
whale oil to provide extra weather-proofing. Apart from the animal oil, this method of roof construction continues to be used. The walls, likewise, were often
whitewashed, giving the island a faux snowcover if seen from a distance, though American author
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
preferred to liken it to
cake
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...
icing, "the white of marble...modest and retiring
n comparison
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
.
French botanist
André Michaux, on the other hand, found the reflective glare of the roofs fatiguing.
[Shorto, Sylvia. ''Bermuda Gardens & Houses'' (Rizzoli: New York 1996), p. 36] A common alternative to the whitewash was a simple
lime plaster made — much like the wash — of lime, red clay and turtle or whale oil. If well-maintained, this plaster kept walls free of moisture, but if cracked, moisture would be retained.
[Trimingham, p. 25]
As the water available for domestic use was obtained via the roof, the only way to expand the amount available was to expand the house laterally. Rooms were added to the existing block, first giving buildings a
cruciform appearance and later leaving no standard floor plan for the archetypical house.
By 1711, propertied Bermudians often lived in houses of three to six rooms, the central of which was called the "hall"; this "hall" served as the principle sitting and formal dining room. Porches were often closed in with stone walls and window rather than being open-air.
Common rooms included the "parlour", a bedroom, two or three "bedchambers", an "entry" distinct from the porch and a peripheral "outlet" room often at the back of the house.
[Chudleigh, p. 2]
Archways came to be featured heavily in doorways. Porches, backdoors and even basements featured simple arches, rarely decorated with capitals or
voussoir-style keystones, that show inspiration from both Colonial Mexico and Saxon-Roman styles. These arches continued outward, appearing as garden gateways.
[Raine, p. 42]
The 18th century saw the use of the
casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...
adjoined to the
wall plate between the wall and rafters. In time, the casement would be replaced by the
sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...
, and improved building techniques allowed window- and door-frames to be removed from the wallplate.
[Trimingham, p. 3]
Neo-classical styles, then in vogue in both Britain and America, appeared, particularly among the wealthy.
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
s with simple limestone
Doric order pillars topped by comparatively elaborate capitals were built, and upstairs windows were made smaller to recreate Classical optical perspective. The corners of buildings were also adorned with mock columns, and gateways were made more ornate.
[Raine, p. 43] To further accent building geometry, narrow strips of moulding were used to highlight features such as storeys and windows.
[Raine, p. 44]
Garden walls replaced fences that had been erected to keep out animals. These walls were initially low and augmented by fairly tall stone posts, between which
picket fencing was installed. Victorian notions of privacy, however, would see many of these hybrid fences replaced by tall, solid stone walls, particularly in the east.
[White, David. ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage Series: Sandys'' (Bermuda National Trust: 1999), p. 71] Substantial — often pretentious — gateposts and wooden gates were standard elements.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 27] Towards the end of the 18th century,
verandahs replaced the built-up porches at the top of the front staircase. First appearing in buildings designed by the British military, the verandahs originated in India and were popular in the West Indies. Initially most used either a plain square
baluster
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...
or a "
Chinese Chippendale
Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Cab ...
" style, increasingly elaborate forms took precedence during the
Victorian era.
[Trimingham, p. 68]

During the 19th century, the earlier design features were refined and softened. Gable-ends (now strengthened by concrete and making a fashionable comeback),
pillars and gateways were rounded while capitals became standard for porch pillars. The mock columns on the corners of buildings were replaced with
quoins, also called "quoinces" and "longs and shorts", that alternated between being
Headers or Stretchers. This style seems to have its origins in
Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...
.
[Raine, p. 58]
Porches had been in decline since the second half of the 18th century, and by the early 19th century the inner
entryway was also disappearing in favour of a direct entrance to the central hall.
[Chudleigh, p. 5]
During the 1880s, Bermuda followed Britain in adopting the use of imported, clay-baked tiles for building decoration. Few examples of this, however, have survived.
[Raine, p. 59] Another British import was the
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
in Bermuda's Anglican community. Seen most prominently in the cathedral in Hamilton, many of the islands' churches were redesigned with more elaborate edifices.
[Chudleigh, p. 7]
Modern developments (1900–present)

During the 20th century, expanded contact with the outside world has led to a considerable diversification of Bermuda's architecture, more so with commercial developments than residential, to the detriment of traditional styles. Concern for the loss of Bermudian identity led to the 1937 creation of the
Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust, predecessor to the present-day
Bermuda National Trust, to purchase and preserve important examples of indigenous architecture.
[Chudleigh, p. 12] Initially, though, earlier styles made a resurgence, as did the Colonial Spanish arch.
[Raine, p. 77] The
Edwardian period saw the introduction of hybrid British-American
bungalows marketed to the middle class; features included exposed eaves, windows gathered together and low roofs that were extended to cover porches.
[Chudleigh, p. 10]
The early century also saw the perhaps counterintuitive growth of wooden buildings. Often these buildings were to provide cheap housing for imported labour, such as from the West Indies in the 1900s and 1930s, or during the Second World War for the builders of
Kindley Air Force Base. Such designs were usually looked down up: the wooden neighbourhood on King's Point was described as a shanty town. Wooden buildings became most prolific in Sandys parish, near to the
Royal Naval Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...
, followed by St. George's near the Kindley Field (used to house not only labourers but displaced residents) and finally Pembroke.
[Butler, Dale. ''The Wooden Houses of Bermuda'', p. iv] In the subsequent decades, many of these wooden buildings would be demolished.
[Butler, p. v]
Pre-fabricated buildings, often imported from the United States appeared early. Typically, they have been used as temporary, low-cost residences. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, Cox Outerbridge imported wooden pre-fabricated buildings and created an affordable community on his estate in
Pembroke.
As recently as 2005, the government of Bermuda has imported pre-fabricated buildings in a somewhat controversial attempt to address the country's housing crisis.
[Roberts, Stuart]
"UBP blasts pre-fab home plan"
''The Royal Gazette'', August 17, 2005. The need for these alternatives is quite clear: by 2004, the cost of traditional construction was over
$175 per square foot, combined with land prices of $1 million per acre.
["Supply and demand"]
''The Royal Gazette'', February 25, 2004 By the beginning of 2007, this left the average cost of a house at over $1.5 million,
[Kent, Jonathan. "Average cost of houses hits $1.6m", ''The Royal Gazette'', January 10, 2007] and approaching $2 million by August of that year.
[Ebbin, Meredith.]
"Average family home now $1.8m"
''Bermuda Sun'', August 2, 2007 By late 2008, construction costs had reached $250 per square foot.
[Dale, Amanda.]
"Damaged 200-year-old landmark demolished despite objections"
''The Royal Gazette'', November 8, 2008

In 1933, a large sum of money was
bequeathed to the city of Hamilton for the construction of a new city hall. The new structure, begun in the late 1950s and finished in 1960, was designed by Bermudian architect
Wil Onions to copy styles from the traditional Bermuda cottage.
[City Hall]
, The Corporation of Hamilton Onions been demonstrating his skills at marrying modern needs with traditional decor for many years,
[Jarvis, p. 153] and his work inspired a revitalised interest in traditional architecture.
[White, p. 97]
Modern civil architecture appeared in Bermuda in the 1960s, though it has been mostly limited to the city of Hamilton and its immediate outskirts. Generally used for private commercial purposes, the overseas styles began to take over the Hamilton skyline as international business grew, restricted only by a government mandate that no building be taller than the city's Cathedral.
[Shorto, p. 29]
In 2000, the Town of St. George and the east-end fortifications were nominated for inclusion on
UNESCO's list of
World Heritage Sites, under the grounds of architecture that illustrates human history (criterion iv) and direct association with events and traditions (criterion vi). During the selection process, the delegate from
Mexico questioned why the site was not part of a serial nomination of Caribbean fortifications (considered by the
United Nations to be part of a different region,
Latin America, from Bermuda,
Northern America, per the
United Nations geoscheme)
[World Macro Regions and Components]
United Nations and the delegate from
Thailand questioned why
ICOMOS wanted to apply criterion vi; it was decided to inscribe the site on the World Heritage List under criterion iv only.
[''Report of the 24th session, 27 November - 2 December 2000'']
UNESCO

In 2004, the renovation of "Harbour View" in St. George's was followed by the American home improvement franchise ''
This Old House''. The coverage was featured in four issues of the ''This Old House'' magazine and eight episodes of its television series, ''Ask This Old House''. It was only the second time that the program had ventured outside of the United States.
[Trott, Lawrence]
"This unique opportunity"
''The Royal Gazette'', February 24, 2004.[Trott, Lawrence]
"First 'Old House' segment on Bermuda to debut tonight"
"The Royal Gazette", March 4, 2004 The renovation was designed by a local architect, Colin Campbell, and largely performed by local companies.
[Bandon, Alexandra.]
''This Old House''
Most recently, focus on
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
has led to experiments in
green architecture. In late 2008, the country's first
LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
-accredited building was completed in Hamilton,
["Making buildings in Bermuda greener"]
''The Royal Gazette'', December 17, 2007[Wright, Alex.]
"Businesses set to move into 'green building' from next month"
''The Royal Gazette'', October 31, 2008 but the adoption of green technologies such as
solar panels
A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a phot ...
has been extremely slow.
[Pearman, Mikaela Ian.]
"Expert 'astounded' we don't use much solar power"
''The Royal Gazette'', November 12, 2008
Military construction

Local and
British needs for military development long drove Bermuda's construction industry. During the
age of colonisation, risk of attack by the
Spanish,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
and
Dutch led to a ring of wooden fortifications being built along the coastline. The first forts, Paget Fort and Smith's Fort, were built in 1612 − the first year of colonisation – to protect St. George's Harbour. These first forts were built simply, starting out as platforms cut into stone where cannons were then placed. They were then haphazardly expanded to the point where they could not withstand the elements and collapsed.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 13.] Fortification was slowly expanded to guard the entrance of
Castle Harbour Castle Harbour is a large natural harbour in Bermuda. It is located between the northeastern end of the main island and St. David's Island. Originally called ''Southampton Port'', it was renamed as a result of its heavy fortification in the early ...
, in time to fend off a Spanish expedition in 1614. King's Castle was raised that same year, but subsequent attempts to improve the fort were unsuccessful; six years later, Southampton Fort and the Devonshire
Redoubt were added to
Castle Harbour's defence.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 14]
By the 18th century few wooden forts — indeed, few of the original structures — remained. The ring alternated between high towers and squat, hexagonal or square forts. The eastern part of the archipelago was particularly well-fortified.
[Raine, p. 24] King's Castle continued to be expanded, with an underground magazine and an outhouse cut of the stone that strongly resembles a local buttery.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 15] A total of twenty forts — nearly one for each of Bermuda's square miles — would be erected by 1800, most of them to guard St. Georges. By 1783, over half of the colony's cannons ringed the eastern parish. These forts did not follow the conventional
bastion
A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
-style that then prevailed in Europe; instead they most resembled the fortifications built under
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
along the coast of
southern England in the early 16th century.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 16]

During and following the
American War for Independence, the British began to use the island as a major naval outpost. The most notable construction of this period was the
Royal Naval Dockyard
Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal Dockyards) were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial c ...
. The site surveyed in 1796, construction began in 1812 without regard to the local architectural developments. Instead, it was built with conventional methods using brick and slate imported from
Great Britain and
Canada. Construction of the Dockyard continued until the 1860s and relied heavily on
penal labour, using prisoners from Britain housed in
floating hulks. Construction resumed at the end of the 19th century and was done by imported West Indian workers. One of the most prominent buildings of the Dockyard was the Commissioner's House, designed by the Royal Navy's chief architect
Edward Holl
Edward Holl was an architect to the Navy Board, then later Surveyor of Buildings (Royal Navy), Surveyor of Buildings to the Board of Admiralty of the Royal Navy.
His father is presumed to be Edward Holl, a stonemason from Beccles in Suffolk, who ...
. At ,
[Facility Rentals]
, Bermuda Maritime Museum the verandah-wrapped building was far larger and grander than either the Government House, residence of Bermuda's governor, or the Admiralty House used by the head of the
North American Station.
[White, p. 108] The Commissioner's House introduced the use of
cast iron in buildings and was built largely using
prison labour.
[White, p. 109] Internally, the building featured
Soane styling,
flushing toilets and
hot water
Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...
. By the time the building was finished in 1832, the final cost was nearly £50,000 ($250,000); the
Navy Board was outraged, and the building came to be regarded as a
white elephant.
[White, p. 110] The building was subsequently used as barracks by the
British Army and the
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 light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
until its commissioning by the
Royal Navy as during the
First World War.
[White, p. 111]

Other military construction also followed the traditional British patterns, and had negligible effect on local architecture. Through the 19th century, the British military continued to construct and expand fortifications and lay roads and bridges, most notably
the causeway connecting
Long Bird Island and
St. David's Island to the main island.
[Raine, p. 57] St. George's was also re-fortified by the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
. New or replacement forts included Upper Paget Fort/Fort Cunningham, built above the remains of the first Paget Fort, Fort Victoria and Fort Albert to the east and
Fort St. Catherine
Fort St. Catherine, or ''Fort St. Catherine's'' (as it is usually referred to), is a coastal artillery fort at the North-East tip of St. George's Island, Bermuda, St. George's Island, in the Imperial fortress British Overseas Territory, colony of ...
, on the northern tip of St. George's.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 120] St. George's also saw the construction of Fort George and Fort William as well as seaward
artillery batteries at Buildings Bay and on St. David's Island.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 121] In the 1820s, Bermuda's only
Martello tower was built to cover
Ferry Reach.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 128]
In the aftermath of the
American Civil War, concerns over a landward attack on the Royal Naval Dockyard led to large tracts of the central parish of Devonshire being
acquired by the British military.
[Trimingham, p. 10] Fort Prospect and Fort Langton, both built to an out-dated design, and the Military Hospital were constructed in the area, and local houses were used as officers' residences.
[Trimingham, p. 11]
Not all of the British military buildings were fortifications, of course. Barracks, hospitals and officer houses were built to British military standard, which fared poorly in Bermuda. Verandahs were often supported by iron columns that required constant painting, while roofs were lined with
Welsh slate
The existence of a slate industry in Wales is attested since the Roman period, when slate was used to roof the fort at Segontium, now Caernarfon. The slate industry grew slowly until the early 18th century, then expanded rapidly until the ...
that was lost after every hurricane. Though a few pretentious copycats still appeared among Bermuda's residences, around the start of the 20th century even the military was abandoning the style in favour of local techniques.
[Jarvis, ''St. George's'', p. 133]
One of the largest and perhaps most traumatic military developments was the construction of
Kindley Air Force Base by the
United States. Seizing large areas of the eastern islands, many traditional houses were demolished and replaced by American-style buildings. The new buildings were given some superfluous local traits, such as white roofs and coloured walls, but otherwise inherited nothing from local design. As with the earlier British works, there was no lasting influence of these buildings on local architecture.
[Raine, p. 78]
Notable structures
St. George's (town and parish)

*The
State House
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
, built in an Italian style, once housed Bermuda's Parliament; since 1797 it has been rented by a
Masonic Lodge at the rate of one peppercorn per year, which is collected by the governor in a small ceremony (''see:
peppercorn (legal)'').
*The Old Rectory, built in 1699 by failed
privateer and
slave trader George Dew, is one of Bermuda's oldest houses.
[The Old Rectory]
''Museums & Historic Buildings'', Bermuda National Trust[Jarvis, p. 59]
*The Globe Hotel, built c. 1700 by
Governor Samuel Day, is one of Bermuda's oldest stone buildings. Day used public funds to construct the building as his personal home, which he kept after being ousted from office. In 1951 it was purchased by the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust and converted into a museum about Bermuda's role during the
American Civil War.
[Jarvis, p. 62][The Bermuda National Trust Museum at the Globe Hotel]
''Museums & Historic Buildings'', Bermuda National Trust
*
St. Peter's Church was the last in a succession of churches at the site; built in 1713 and extensively renovated in the 19th century.
St. Peter's Church
, ''Walking Tour'', The St. George's Foundation[Jarvis, p. 28]
*Fort St. Catherine was built in the 1830s at the northern tip of the archipelago; now part of the World Heritage Site, it houses a museum.
*The Unfinished Church was begun in 1874 as a Gothic Revival replacement for St. Peter's Church; financial difficulties and storm damage led to the project being abandoned and the site left to ruin.
''Museums & Historic Buildings'', Bermuda National Trust[Jarvis, p. 33]
*Arcadia House, a Grade One- listed building built in 1900 and used as officers' housing.[White, p. 125] It was demolished in 2008.
Elsewhere
*Verdmont
Verdmont, located at 6 Verdmont Lane, off Sayle Road, at the top of Collector’s Hill, in Smith's Parish, Bermuda is a historic house built c. 1710, now operated as a museum by the Bermuda National Trust. It is essentially structurally unchanged ...
, in Smith's, a mansion built in 1710 now run as a museum by the Bermuda National Trust, which has changed little in the past three centuries.[Moniz, Jessie. "Celebrating Bermuda's history", ''The Royal Gazette'', April 14, 2005.][''Smith's Parish'']
*The Bermuda headquarters of Bacardi, in Hamilton, follows an International style International style may refer to:
* International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture
*International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art
*International Style (dancing), a term used in ...
design by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
, closely resembling his Neue Nationalgalerie
The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its ...
, and was declared (presumably humorously) "the most Bermudian of all Bermudian buildings" by its builders.
*The Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity was completed in 1894 so that Hamilton could be conferred "city status"; it is by law the tallest building in the city.[''Corporation of Hamilton: Walking Tours with Hamilton Town Crier Ed Christopher'', Corporation of Hamilton]
*The Keep, including the Commissioner's House, is the home of the Bermuda Maritime Museum;[Map#The Keep]
, Bermuda Maritime Museum other buildings at the Dockyard on Ireland Island
Ireland Island is the north-westernmost island in the chain which comprises Bermuda. It forms a long finger of land pointing northeastwards from the main island, the last link in a chain which also includes Boaz Island and Somerset Island. It ...
remain standing but have been converted for commercial purposes.[Dockyard]
West End Development Co.
Gallery
File:State House- 1620 - St Geo - Bermuda.jpg, A street in the Town of St. George leading up to the historic State House.
File:St. Peter's Church -1.jpg, St. Peter's Church in St. George.
File:Unfinished Church 2.jpg, The Unfinished Church in St. George, begun in 1874.
File:HM Dockyard Bermuda 04.jpg, Commissioner's House, atop "The Keep", is completely exposed to both the elements and any military threats.
File:Bermuda-Flatts_Village_01.jpg, Buildings in Flatts Village, Bermuda
File:Bermuda-Flatts_Village_02.jpg, Buildings in Flatts Village
File:BermudaStreetCarriage1929.jpg, A street in Hamilton as it appeared in 1929.
File:HamiltonStreet.jpg, Hamilton's Front Street from street level shows many of the architectural features mentioned in the article.
See also
* Culture of Bermuda
References
Further reading
* John S. Humphreys, ''Bermuda Houses'' (Marshall Jones, Boston, 1923; reprinted Bermuda Maritime Museum, Dockyard, 1993) The standard and magisterial work on Bermuda houses.
* ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: Sandys'' ( Bermuda National Trust, Hamilton, 1999)
* Diana Chudleigh, Edward A. Chappel, Michael J. Jarvis, ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: Hamilton Parish'' (Bermuda National Trust, Hamilton, 2002)
* Michael J. Jarvis, ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: St. George's'' (Bermuda National Trust, Hamilton, 1998)
* Andrew Trimingham, Robin Judah, et al., ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: Volume One - Devonshire'' (Bermuda National Trust, Hamilton, 1995)
* Andrew Trimingham, ''Bermuda's Architectural Heritage: Devonshire'' (Bermuda National Trust, Hamilton, 1995)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Architecture Of Bermuda
*
Bermudian culture