The parish of St. Michael is one of 11 parishes in Barbados. It has a land area of 39 km2 (15 sq mi) and is at the southwest portion of the island. Saint Michael was the name of one of the original six parishes created in 1629 by Governor Sir William Tufton; its boundaries have been changed over time.
The parish is home to Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Bridgetown is the center of commercial activity in Barbados, as well as a central hub for the public transport network. Other major infrastructure in St. Michael is the international seaport of Barbados—the Deep Water Harbour. Therein, a number of cruise ships arrive and depart including various lines such as Royal Caribbean and Cunard. The harbour features several sugar towers for loading locally produced sugar into transport ships, and a tower for loading flour for transport.
The Needham's Point Lighthouse and Charles Fort are both located in Needham's Point, Saint Michael, behind the Hilton Barbados Resort.
Under Barbados's historical vestry system, the main parish church (St Michael's Cathedral) is sited in St Michael's Row in Bridgetown. The cathedral replaced the former parish church that was located at the site of St Mary's Church. St Michael's Cathedral was elevated to cathedral status under Bishop Coleridge, who arrived in Barbados in 1825 to head the newly created Diocese of Barbados and the Leeward Islands.
Contents
Geography
Populated places
The parish contains the following towns, villages, localities, settlements, communities and hamlets:
Black Rock
Bridgetown
Cave Hill
Fontabelle
Goodland
Pine Hill
Two Mile Hill
Wanstead
Warrens
Weymouth
Wildey
Parishes bordering Saint Michael
Christ Church - South
Saint George - East
Saint James - Northwest
Saint Thomas - Northeast
Defined boundaries
With Christ Church: – Starts from the meeting point of the parishes of St. George, St. Michael, and Christ Church and proceeds southerly along the plantation track and the boundary between the residential developments called Fort George Heights and Kent House to the boundary junction with public road called Highway R. Then it moves westerly along Highway R to its junction at Wildey with the Airport to West Coast Highway. Then it goes southerly along the Highway to merge at Clapham with the public road called Highway 6, then go north-westerly along Highway 6 to its junction with the public Observatory Road, then moves southerly along Observatory Road to its junction with the public Fordes Road. Then moving south-westerly, north-westerly and northerly along Fordes Road, Bonnett’s Road and Brittons New Road to its junction with Dalkeith Hill, then westerly along Dalkeith Hill to its junction with Deighton Road; then in a generally northern direction along Deighton Road to its junction with Dayrells Road. Along Dayrells Road in a south-westerly, north-westerly and westerly direction to its junction with Dalkeith Road at the Garrison, then continuing along Dalkeith Road generally south-westerly to its junction with the public road Highway 7; then directly across Highway 7 and continuing in a south-westerly direction along the road leading to Gravesend Beach and directly to the sea.
With St. George: – Starting from the meeting point of the parishes of St. George, St. Michael, and Christ Church and proceeding in a westerly and northerly direction along the plantation track to its junction at Lower Burney with the public road Highway 5; then westerly along Highway 5 to its junction at Mapp Hill and the public road Haynes Hill.
Then northerly along Haynes Hill and Pasture Road to its junction with Monroe Road; then in a westerly direction along Monroe Road to its junction with Salters Tenantry Road, moving along it in a northerly, then westerly then northerly direction to its junction at Salters with the public road Highway 4; then south-westerly along Highway 4 to its junction with a public road called Highway X; moving north-easterlyalong Highway X to its junction with an unclassified road; then in a generally north-westerly then northerly direction along to its junction with the public road leading from the Belle Road to Charles Rowe Bridge; then in a westerly direction to its junction with the unclassified road leading to Lower Estate; then in a generally north-easterly direction along this road (so as to pass to the east of the factory yard) to its junction with a track to the north of the factory yard; then in a north-westerly direction along this track to join an unclassified road and along this road to its junction at Dayrells with the public road called Highway 3; then in a north-easterly direction along Highway 3 to its junction with Cole Road at Bourne; then in a northerly direction along this road to the culvert where it crosses a gully; then along this gully in a south-westerly, north-westerly and north-easterly to a point opposite Applewhaites Tenantry Road; then along the line joining this point to the road junction and north-westerly along Applewhaites Tenantry Road to its junction with a public road called Highway E. This is the meeting point of the parishes of St. George, St. Michael, and St. Thomas.
Politics
Saint Michael covers eleven geographical constituencies for the House of Assembly:
City of Bridgetown
St. Michael Central
St. Michael East
St. Michael South
St. Michael South Central
St. Michael South East
St. Michael North
St. Michael North East
St. Michael North West
St. Michael West
St. Michael West Central
Places
Found in St. Michael are:
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Pine
Caribbean Development Bank, Wildey
The Sir Gary Sobers Sports complex
The Kensington Oval
The National stadium, Waterford
The Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill
The Black Rock Psychiatric Hospital, commonly called 'Jenkins'
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados' primary health care facility
State House, formerly Government House, the official residence of the President of Barbados
Various government offices such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Industry and International Business
Economy
Kayla Foods Int'l (Barbados) Inc., an international division of Yogen Früz, is located in Saint Michael.
Education
Schools located in St. Michael include:
American University of Barbados
American University of Integrative Sciences
Ann Hill School
Barbados Community College
Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies
Cave Hill School of Business
Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School
Combermere School
Erdiston Primary School and Special Unit
Erdiston Teachers' Training College
Graydon Sealy Secondary School
Harrison College
Irving Wilson School
Parkinson Memorial Secondary School
Ross University School of Medicine
Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic
Springer Girls' Memorial Secondary School
St. Leonard's Boys' Secondary School
The St. Michael School
Notable people
Rihanna (Robyn Rihanna Fenty), singer, businesswoman, and actress
Tino Best, cricketer
Stede Bonnet, land owner turned pirate, known as “The Gentleman Pirate”
Marsha K. Caddle, politician, economist and Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Investment
London Bourne, former slave who became a wealthy merchant and landowner
Annalee Davis, Barbadian-born visual artist
Sir Wes Hall, cricketer and former Minister for Sport & Tourism
Shai Hope, cricketer
Elvis Joseph, former National Football League running back, first professional American Football player from Barbados
John Goddard, cricketer and businessmen
Anthony Kellman, poet, novelist and musician
Frank Marshall, Anglican Dean of Barbados, based at the Cathedral Church of Saint Michael and All Angels in Saint Michael
Velma Scantlebury, first woman African American transplant surgeon in the United States, born in Goodland, St Michael
Sir Garfield Sobers, cricketer
Nellie Weekes (1896–1990) – campaigner for women's rights, who ran for office in 1942, before women were allowed to vote in the country.