Brimmer Hall is a Jamaican Great House and plantation located near

Port Maria Port Maria () is the capital town of the Jamaican parish of Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Saint Mary. Originally named "Puerto Santa Maria", it was the second town established by Spanish settlers in Jamaica. The ruins of Fort Haldane, built 1759, ...

, in

Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica Saint Mary () is a Parish (administrative division), parish located in the northeast section of Jamaica. With a population of 114,227 it is one of Jamaica's smallest parishes, located in the county of Middlesex. Its chief town and Capital (poli ...

. In the eighteenth century Brimmer Hall was owned by Zachary Bayly as part of a series of contiguous sugar plantations. These consisted of

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

, Tryall, and Roslyn Pen as well as Brimmer Hall. Together they were known as Bayly's Vale. The land was worked by about 1,100 enslaved

Africans The ethnic groups of Africa number in the thousands, with each ethnicity generally having their own language (or dialect of a language) and culture. The ethnolinguistic groups include various Afroasiatic, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Sahara ...

in this period. The house has a single story building with high ceilings and polished wooden floors which were constructed by had out of local hard woods. There is a wide verandah and out-buildings consist of storage sheds, household servant’s quarters, two kitchens (one for the great house and one for the servants) and stables.

Tourist attraction

In the 1960s Brimmer Hall was owned by Major Douglas Vaughn who developed the location as a tourist attraction. As the plantation was growing produce such as

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

s, with 15,580 trees,

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s, citrus and pimento, visitors were shown around the plantation and then allowed to enjoy facilities which included a flower garden, swimming pool and bar. In 1967 he opened six shops in the former stables, which had previously housed a number of race horses. These had been reconditioned and given the names of race horses associated with Brimmer Hall: Grey Owl, Dandy, Creation, Please Forward, Madonna and Rakoush. Each shop specialised in a particular range of goods: one stall provided goat skin products and chinaware, another replicas of pirate treasure found in

Port Royal Port Royal () was a town located at the end of the Palisadoes, at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, in southeastern Jamaica. Founded in 1494 by the Spanish, it was once the largest and most prosperous city in the Caribbean, functioning as the cen ...

, straw goods, textiles and other miscellaneous items. Karl Parboosingh was the art consultant and several of his paintings were also on sale.

References

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