Highlights of Falmouth & Greenwood Great House
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Port
Falmouth, Jamaica
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Activity Level
Moderate
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Excursion Type
All
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Wheelchair Accessible
No
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Starting At
$59.95
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Minimum Age
Information Not Currently Available
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Duration
Approximately 2½ Hours
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Meals Included
Meals not included
The Barretts of Wimpole Street fame came to Jamaica in the 1660s and amassed great wealth from their sugar plantations. In 1790, they created the village of Falmouth, built on coastal land owned by Edward Moulton Barrett. He was the grandfather of famed English Romantic poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who was bequeathed the family's Falmouth holdings called Greenwood.
Greenwood Great House is one of the finest antique museums in the Caribbean and indeed the ‘greatest’ Great House in Jamaica. Built during an era of strangely blended elegance and brutality, Greenwood has retained the atmosphere of the 19th century and continues to capture the imagination of its visitors. The home still has much of its original furniture, well-preserved artifacts, a ballroom, oil paintings, and a rare collection of musical instruments and antiques.
Falmouth’s fortunes as a commercial center declined after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire, starting in 1840. Present-day Falmouth is a relic, as are many parish capitals in Jamaica. Yet, people from all over the north coast flock to its very popular Wednesday Bend-Down Market.
The town’s old and not-so-old buildings make up Falmouth's historic townscape. These shared characteristics weave the varied building styles into a distinctive pattern of early Jamaican architecture, and a large representation of each variety makes the town very distinctive.
Notes:
The entrance leading in to the Greenwood Great House is bumpy.