A recent visit to Guyana by Commonwealth Heritage Forum Chairman Francis Maude and CEO Philip Davies has highlighted the urgency for action to preserve and enhance the varied heritage of this little visited nation.
image for illustration: St George’s Cathedral, Georgetown by Dan Lundberg – 20191121_Guyana_0048 Georgetown sRGB, CC BY-SA 2.0
… We look forward to working closely with local partners…
Francis Maude, Chair of the Commonwealth Heritge Forum writes:
Despite its location on the northern shoulder of South America, culturally Guyana forms part of the English-speaking Caribbean. The first European settlers were Dutch. With Trinidad (held by the Spanish, then briefly the French) and St Lucia (French), it passed into British hands during the Napoleonic wars. The Dutch were probably the only people who could have drained the flat coastal mangrove swamps and plains into productive land for the cultivation of sugar, coffee, rice and cocoa.
From the 17th century onwards, the Dutch constructed a system of drainage channels which divided the land into regular strips, a few hundred metres wide, arranged perpendicular to the coast and to the main rivers (the Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice and Courentyne) which allowed boats to reach the interior. They protected their colony through forts, including Fort Zeelandia, built on an island in the Essequibo estuary.
The drainage channels (known as kokers) run many miles inland, often the full depth of the coastal plain on which almost the entire population of the nation lives. The names the Dutch gave the strips of cultivated land, which formed the basis for the systems of plantations, reveal the concerns and passions of the pioneering colonists: Werk en Rust; Vreed en Hoop; Johannas Lust. These names yet remain, having survived the Dutch departure. Today, they define the street pattern and development of the City of Georgetown.
There was an earlier fort and settlement on the east bank of the mouth of the Demerara river during the Dutch period, but the formation of a town came later; on the 14th April 1812, “the town formerly called Stabroek extending from the side line of La Penitence to the bridge in Kingston, entering upon the road to the camp be in future styled by the name of Georgetown.”
The Royal Warrant which declared Georgetown a City was issued in 1842. Development proceeded apace. The earliest railway in South America was operational in the 1840s.
Public Buildings, churches, schools, market halls, hotels, fine mansions, public gardens and houses were built within the network of wide streets and avenues formed by the drainage canals. Enhanced later in the 19th century by the construction of the City Hall, the Victoria Law Courts, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and the Anglican St George’s Cathedral, (for many years the world’s tallest timber building), the city became known as the Garden City of the Caribbean.
In recent years a number of the key historic structures have been repaired, including the Parliament building, St George’s Cathedral and the Roman Catholic Cathedral on Brickdam. The City Hall is at present under restoration, and will look splendid when complete, though the extent of surviving historic fabric has sadly been compromised by the passage of time between the preparation of the construction drawings and specifications, and the execution of the work.
Many other buildings, which collectively gave Georgetown its identity and joy to residents and visitors alike, have been lost, primarily through fire and redevelopment. Perhaps the greatest loss was the fire of 1945, when a great part of the City centre was destroyed. The memory of this loss remains in historic photographs and in a beautifully rendered and tantalising model kept in the National Museum.
In the reconstruction that followed the fire, the new buildings were of concrete to eliminate the scourge of fire which has destroyed so many cities, not least London in 1666. As in London, so in Georgetown, the fire prompted the adoption of building codes intended to prevent the repetition of such devastation. The new buildings were clever both in their conception and in the manner in which they integrated themselves into the pre-existing townscape. Their scale, massing, balance of solid and void, colour, plot development ratios and the retention of generous green space to permit the prevailing breeze to cool the buildings embodied the knowledge of how to build comfortable buildings in a humid tropical environment, while permitting new forms of architectural expression for contemporary new uses.
The cultural value of historic buildings is keenly acknowledged by the leaders of Guyana and of Georgetown. The Prime Minister lives in one, set in spacious grounds on Main Street.
The Public Buildings which house Parliament, the City Hall, the Law Courts, and almost all the key functions of government both local and national are housed in historic buildings. Their settings, however, are being eroded through careless development. Other buildings are insensitively altered or inadequately maintained.
It is not a question of choosing between conservation and new development. Successful cities must have both. The discovery of oil off the Guyanese coast in the Stabroek Block has provided a fillip to the local and national economy. This may provide the resources to support investment in a holistic development plan for Georgetown and it is this, combined with incentives for training, both trades-based and professional, which formed the backbone to the discussions which Philip Davies and I had with local leaders, including the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Georgetown, the Ministers for Tourism, Public Works, and for Culture and Sport, as well as the director of the National Trust for Guyana and the Head of the School of Architecture at the University of Guyana.
- The Commonwealth Heritage Forum has offered to help with a number of potential projects. These include: working with Government, the National Trust for Guyana and the School of Architecture on the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan for the historic core of the City, focussing on the streetscape as well as the individual buildings, many of which are well catalogued already.
- The establishment of conservation areas where the character of the architecture and of the majority of the urban realm are clearly definable. Within these areas there may well be examples of neglect or inappropriate development, which can be highlighted for future attention.
- Highlighting priorities for the repair and restoration of key historic buildings ar risk.
- Setting out policies to guide future development, considering scale, massing, balance of solid and void, colour, materials, plot ratios and the retention of generous green space, as well as the integration of measures to improve sustainability.
- Training in skills to undertake the repair and restoration of the many splendid buildings which yet remain. It is axiomatic that the most sustainable building is the one that has already been built. Such training would also include an understanding of how and where enhancements such as photovoltaic panels, wheelchair access, improved security, resistance to fire, additional shading and, where necessary, air conditioning can be integrated. Both trade and professional skills are equally important.
Not all Guyana’s heritage falls into the category of the picturesque. One location, which we happened upon by chance, offers the opportunity to consider the development of industry in Guyana based on trade in commodities, such as sugar, rice, timber and much else. Trade provided the bedrock on which Guyana’s development was based. The Transport and Harbour Department Central Workshops, which served both the quay and the railway, are a fascinating time capsule.
The Workshops retain a set of metalworking and woodworking machinery in a set of dedicated spaces. Stores remain containing myriad obsolescent parts for long-abandoned equipment. There are two railway wagons on a short length of track. The workshops remain in limited use, so some of the machinery is still operational. Adjacent is vacant ground which could accommodate additional workshop and training facilities, as well as a café and visitor centre to support public access.
These workshops provide much of what would be needed to establish a training school for traditional crafts as well as the space to develop these further. The location at the centre of Georgetown would encourage the simultaneous development of a unique visitor attraction showcasing the industrial heritage of Guyana. We consider that this is an important story and an educational resource which would be of interest to many.
We look forward to working closely with local partners to secure a sustainable future for Guyana’s spectacular built heritage.
