Entrance to the Castle government complex in Jamestown

The Castle is the main government building of the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory located in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and consisting of the island of Saint Helena, Ascension Island, and the archipelago of Tri ...

, located in Jamestown on the island of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. A Grade I-

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, the oldest parts of the complex date to 1708, but it was largely reconstructed in the 1860s because of

termite Termites are a group of detritivore, detritophagous Eusociality, eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of Detritus, decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, Plant litter, leaf litter, and Humus, soil humus. They are dist ...

damage. It does not have the appearance of a typical

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

, though historically the site was part of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

fortifications of Jamestown.

History

Governor John Roberts ordered the construction of the Castle in 1708 on the site of the previous triangular James Fort, close to James Bay. The fort was rebuilt over the next several years to extend across the entire seaward mouth of James Valley and the Castle was immediately behind it to the east. It replaced the decrepit Fort House as the official residence of the

governor of Saint Helena The Governor of Saint Helena is the representative of the monarch in Saint Helena, a constituent part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice ...

and also housed the island's administrative offices. It was a modest one-

storey A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the wor ...

building with a low

basement A basement is any Storey, floor of a building that is not above the grade plane. Especially in residential buildings, it often is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the Furnace (house heating), furnace, water heating, ...

; an upper storey was added in 1776. The Castle was rebuilt in 1867 to repair termite damage and has remained essentially the same ever since.

Present day

Plantation House A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

, in the District of Saint Paul's, became the governor's official residence in 1792, although the Governor's office remains in the Castle. Most of the main administrative offices of the colony, including the Chief Secretary’s, are in the Castle and the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

meets in the Council Chamber on the second floor. Also part of the complex are the Printing Office, Savings Bank and the colony's archives.Denholm, p. 13 Only the

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

is open to the public.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Castle Grade I listed buildings in Saint Helena Politics of Saint Helena Government Houses of the British Empire and Commonwealth Government buildings completed in 1710 Houses completed in 1710 Properties of the East India Company Jamestown, Saint Helena 1710 establishments in the British Empire

History

Present day

See also

Notes

References