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By Keith Archibald Forbes (see About Us) exclusively for Bermuda Online
To refer by e-mail to this file use "bermuda-online.org/seepaget.htm" as your Subject
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Paget Parish's crest, from the fourth Lord Paget
| The Bermuda Government appoints a Parish Council for each Parish. The chairperson or members of each will give further information about the crest to students and others, including the meaning of the Parish Crest motto. |
Paget Parish is on Main Island, the same size as the other eight parishes. It is on Bermuda's South, Middle and Harbour Roads. It was named after Elizabethan patron and English aristocrat William Paget, fourth Lord Paget (1572-1629).
Born in the year of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, he spent much of his life under suspicion in England because of his father's ardent Roman Catholicism. His father fled to Spain and was considered a traitor. His son turned Protestant and grew to hate all things Spanish but was still mistrusted by Queen Elizabeth, even after serving with Lord Essex in the Calais Expedition of 1596. He avoided the same fate as Essex. He was finally restored to his paternal lands and honors by King James in 1605. In 1612 he became a member of the Virginia Company which then included Bermuda. He was one of the illustrious band of gentlemen "Adventurers" who invested in the Bermuda Company to colonize the Bermuda islands from 1615 onwards.
He was the largest shareholder in the original Paget Tribe named after him in 1617, later Paget Parish. He is buried at West Drayton in Middlesex, England.
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Early settlers called the Tribe Crow Lane.
Crows were there and "lane" meant a "sheltered waterway." Today, Crow
Lane is the easternmost area of Hamilton Harbor, a busy "roundabout"
(rotary) and small park.
This Parish is not as far from the Bermuda International Airport as western Parishes. Its northern side is served by Bermuda Government ferry boats. Its middle and southern areas have buses. |
8.7 acres, it is not public but open to guests and members of the Coral Beach Club and Bermuda Audubon Society. It was donated in 2003 by then owner Elfrida Chappell, daughter of the late Mr. Smith, to the Bermuda Audubon Society and named as such after him. He gave it to his daughter as a 21st birthday present in 1935. It is one of the last undeveloped tracts of undeveloped Bermuda upland forest. It offers spectacular views of the South Shore.
A few - not all - are accessible to the disabled in a wheelchair.
Off South Road.
See Education in Bermuda.
It has some some
fine academic buildings. It is a technical institute, community college,
hospitality training center, business school and further education center for adults.
It also has a library, open to the public, on a membership fee basis. Bermuda Government owned and operated as a guango, it is the equivalent of a junior college. It is NOT a university
as it does not award degrees. It owns - but no longer operates (it leases) the Stonington Beach
Hotel.
The present Bermuda College president, Dr. Charles Green, Bermuda Government appointed, lives in Shamrock Cottage on Matthew's Lane, one of the Bermuda College properties, on a grace-and-favor basis. Hundreds of thousands of dollars - possibly as much as $500,000 - were spent in 2006 on renovations there, without any of it having been put out to tender, in breach of Government's Financial Instructions, which require three quotes for spending in excess of $5,000.
Shamrock Cottage was reportedly in a poor condition before the arrival of Dr. Green to the Island in 2004, to such an extent that burglars were able to break-in and steal belongings from vice-president Larita Alford, who was then living there. Renovation work included the gutting of the house, an upgrading of the plumbing and electrics, a new kitchen and extensive work to the exterior.
National Trust properties throughout
Bermuda are open to visitors - for a fee for those who are not members in Bermuda or
places abroad that reciprocate the membership, or free for members. Americans who are
current members of The Royal Oak Foundation should ask if they are entitled to free
admission to all properties open to the public, because they are if they visit the United
Kingdom. Members of National Trusts in Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Jersey (UK Channel Islands), Fiji, Japan, Isle
of Man, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Scotland and Zimbabwe are admitted free if they remember
to bring current their membership cards with them to Bermuda. Bermuda based members of the
Bermuda National Trust can visit National Trust premises in the same countries for free
when visiting there, if they take their Bermuda membership cards with them.
This organization owns several museums and more other private properties than any other organization in Bermuda, many of which it rents out to overseas people. Its historic headquarters of "Waterville" shown here has small but nice gardens including roses. Waterville Park, also part of the property, is on the shore. The grounds but not the house are open to the public. They are adjacent to and join Crow Lane Park.
Description of each property and how it is graded by the organization
All are historic buildings or areas. HM is an historic monument.
| Bel Air. Cobb's Hill Road, Paget. | 2 |
| Bridge House. Off King's Square, Town of St. George. Art gallery and gift shop. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Shell House of Keep Yard at Royal Naval Dockyard in Sandys Parish. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Shifting House of Keep Yard of above. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Main Magazine, Sea Service of above. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Second Magazine & Shell House, Keep Yard of above | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Eastern Store House, Keep Yard of above. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Former Commissioner's House of above. | 1 |
| Bermuda Maritime Museum Boat Store of above. | 3 |
| Buckingham. King Street, Town of St. George. | 2 |
| Casino. Water Street, Town of St. George. | 2 |
| Cluster Cottage. St. Mary's Road, Warwick. | 1 |
| Fanny Fox's Cottage. Governor's Alley. Town of St. George. | 1 |
| Globe Hotel. (Confederate Museum). York Street, Town of St. George. Now a museum. Telephone 441 297 1423. Open Monday to Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, Sunday 1 pm to 4 pm. | 1 |
| Old Rectory. Broad Alley, Town of St. George. Open Wednesdays from November to March, 12 pm to 5 pm. | 1 |
| Paget Marsh. Middle Road, Lover's Lane, Paget. Telephone 441 236 6483 for further information. | 1 |
| Palmetto House. North Shore Road, Devonshire, telephone 441 295 9941. Open Thursday, 10 am to 5 pm. | 1 |
| Pembroke Hall and Boathouse. Pembroke, Crow Lane. | 2 & 3 |
| Royal Navy Cemetery. Ireland Island, Sandys Parish. | 1 |
| Royal Navy Dockyard defence works on Ireland Island North, Sandys. | HM |
| School Lands Cottages. Pembroke. Including outbuildings. | 2 & 3 |
| Reeve Court. King Street, Town of St. George. | 2 |
| Samaritan's Lodge & Cottages. Bermuda Lodge Heritage Museum, Water Street, Town of St. George. Telephone 441 292 6157. | 1 |
| Spittal Pond. South Road, Smith's. Open daily. Keep to the pathways provided. | 1 |
| Springfield and Gilbert Nature Reserve. Somerset Road. Sandys. | 1 |
| Stewart Hall. Queen Street, Town of St. George. | 1 |
| Tivoli. Middle Road, Warwick. | 2 |
| Tivoli South. Stadium Lane, Warwick. | 3 |
| Tucker House. Water Street, Town of St. George. Open Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm Telephone 441 297 0545 | 1 |
| Unfinished Church. Government Hill Road, Town of St. George. | HM |
| Verdmont & Cottage. Verdmont Lane, Smith's. Telephone 441 236 7369. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10 am to 4 pm. | 1 & 2 |
| Waterville. (See photograph above). Corner of The Lane and Pomander Road, Paget. Office open Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm. Telephone 441 236 6483. | 1 |
| Winterhaven Farm House. Harrington Sound Road, Smith's. | 1 |
5 Stowe Hill, Paget PG 05. Telephone (441) 236-6658 or 236-5845 or fax (441) 236-9123. Artist and sculptor Joe Birdsey Linberg is the daughter of the late renowned artist Alfred Birdsey (1912 to 1996). She is married to Norwegian architect Sjur Linberg. A nice attraction if you like Bermuda art. Numerous tourists stop here to admire the art and tranquil garden setting of interesting plants.
See in Bermuda Botanical Gardens.


Left: Crow Lane Park facing the City of Hamilton (photo Keith A. Forbes). Right: Johnny Barnes (photo Government Information Services)
Today, the park is peaceful, but on June 2, 1730 it was used to tar and burn at the stake Sally Basset, a black slave, convicted of poisoning slave owners Sarah and Thomas Foster or, as some other accounts say, Francis Dickinson of Southampton Parish. She maintained her innocence but her stand against slavery was well known. Complicating the case was that by 1729 she was considered old and was placed on the auction block. It is alleged she instructed her granddaughter Becky in the use of poisons, to poison her owners. She was regarded by whites of the day as a ringleader of poisoning plots. Thus this is a stop on the African Diaspora Heritage Trail. It is from the roundabout (rotary in the USA) near this park that Johnny Barnes, a remarkable Bermudian senior citizen, has made it a tradition for decades of waving a cheery "Good morning" - in all weather - to commuters exiting the parish to enter Pembroke Parish to work in or near the City of Hamilton.
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A Bermuda National Park area. Off the South Road and on the South Shore and 10 minutes from the City of Hamilton, the beach here is popular. The #2 and #7 bus routes get you here. The beach has two sections. One is private above the high water mark, accessed free for guests of the Elbow Beach Hotel and a cost to others. The public side has no facilities - access it via Tribe Road No. 4l and a flight of steps finally repaired in 2002 after hurricane damage in 1999 (fine for the able, but impossible for the disabled in a wheelchair). West of it is Coral Beach, a private beach. |

At the top left of the photo is the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. At the middle right, top, the open-space grounds of the Bermuda Botanical Gardens can be seen. the bay is also a lagoon and swamp, a smaller version of the Florida Everglades, more like a series of Louisiana bayous, a part of Bermuda 99% of tourists and locals never see.

Photographs above and below and text by Keith A. Forbes
In Hungry Bay, turn left at Crow Island and left again to go into the north-east section. Look for a waterway on your right as you face the land. It is a mangrove enclosed opening to the swamp. Enter at your own risk, preferably via someone who knows the swamp and has an aluminum or rubber inflatable dinghy or kayak. (The author himself provided this service until 1989, but not since then). Assist in rowing, paddling and fending off mangrove branches. Swim if the craft overturns or is punctured. Wear old clothing, or swim suit with an old shirt, old sneakers or docksiders. Or go via road and path instead of by water, on a periodic Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo tour with a volunteer guide.


You can go for miles up the canals. The best time of day to access the swamp by water is at least an hour before high tide crests. It will help bear you right in. Note native Red Mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), evergreen trees reaching up to 25 feet via numerous aerial roots from lower branches. Their aerial roots, with root systems resembling eggs of gigantic spiders, indicate they are the red variety. Aerial roots act as props to give them plenty of stability. They have air-breathing organs on their prop roots, which carry air to the roots in the salty mangrove swamps where the sediment is poor in oxygen. The prop roots excrete some of the salt the tree brings in. They are seldom torn up by storms or gales and are vital to our coastlines because they stop the shores from eroding. They grow only in mud at the edge of salt lagoons and bays. They have pendulous fruits.
Also see Black Mangroves (Avicennia nitida), gray-foliaged evergreen trees up to 40 feet high with numerous air-breathing roots growing upwards to 6 inches from the mud around the base of the trunk. They grow in the mud of salt lagoons and bays like these, excellent trees for bees and birds. Black mangroves are slightly smaller than the red variety, with breathing roots rising straight from the water. They also supply air to the underwater roots. On the back of their leaves, you may see salt crystals. This is how the tree gets rid of its salt in the water it consumes.
Mangroves are less aggressive than other trees. They cannot compete with trees and shrubs using fresh water, so they have adapted themselves to living in salt water. Hear the red and black mangrove trees and their young ones murmuring, sucking and expelling water. Both types of mangroves have waxy leaves to conserve fresh water.
For the survival of the species, mangrove seeds start growing on the parent tree to ensure they are not lost in the mud at the foot of the tree. Sprouting seeds fall into the water below and find where they can establish roots of their own. This mangrove area provides nurseries for fish and crabs including marine and local, protected land Hermit Crabs, another protected local species of Giant Land Crab (see photograph above of the holes it digs) - more right here than anywhere else in Bermuda - and mangrove crabs, and habitats for a variety of wild fauna. The coffee bean snail is another well-known resident. Young barracuda, snappers and grunts live here, as do adult damselfish, bream, wrasses and parrotfish, some very large. The water is calm and less salty than in the ocean and mangrove leaves provide a good supply of food.
Also in or near beautiful deep water lagoons are nesting birds such as herons and egrets, under their marine forest canopy. Listen to tree frogs at dusk. Elsewhere in Bermuda, their chorus is soothing, but here it is mysterious and sensuous, a mating call indeed, with answers. Mangroves act as sand and soil traps, keeping waters clear and protecting coastlines during storms. When you're ready to leave this tranquil place, the outgoing tide will guide you back to Hungry Bay (lower right).
If you go by land instead of by water, there are some charming coastline areas nearby to explore to the south east. Walk along the cliffs, for superb ocean views (but no beaches). Also in the area, at the entrance to the bay and via a bit of a climb of a cliff for the agile, is the old ruin of Hungry Bay Fort, one of the many tiny coastal batteries used in early colonial days by British Army soldiers to guard Bermuda against invasion by Spain, France and the USA.
Only those in the Parish are shown here. See others.
| Burnt | Very small, near Salt Kettle. It is named as such from when settlers set fire to its vegetation hundreds of years ago to get rid of great swarms of rats going from island to island. |
| Crow | Hungry Bay |
| Doctor's | Small, in Hamilton Harbor, immediately north of Salt Kettle. |
| Duck's | A mangrove patch at the Foot of the Lane. Aquatic life takes refuge here and during storms or hurricanes small boats take shelter to leeward. |
| Hinson's | Paget Parish (Warwick North Central constituency). Number 16 on the listing of Bermuda National Parks and Reserves. Also known in the past as Brown's or Godet's. An island in the Great Sound. It became the first air base for aircraft in Bermuda. One of the largest in the Great Sound, closer to the Warwick shore than the Paget shore but actually in Paget Parish. It has a convoluted history. It was a Boer War prisoner of war camp from 1901 to 1902, mostly for Boer teenagers. Later, it was the base for Bermuda's first seaplane service, the Bermuda and West Atlantic Aviation Company, run by Major Hal Kitchener and Major Hemming, a veteran of World War I. Now it is an exclusive island - and a private club - for the wealthy, with a request ferry stop on the Warwick service for residents to get to the city of Hamilton and back. Most homes have their own water frontage or private docks or moorings. There are no private automobiles on the island. Ashore, see it best from Harbor Road, at the Belmont Wharf or Darrell's Wharf ferry stops. |
| Spectacle | Also known as Hunt's, north of Hinson's. One of two by this name in Bermuda but the only one in this Parish. In Hamilton Harbor. |
| White's | It was originally Hunt's from the family that once owned many shares in old Bermuda. In the middle of Hamilton Harbor but in Paget Parish despite its ownership, it is now the property of the Corporation of Hamilton. Few Bermuda islands have had a more varied history. Most locals and visitors do not know that in the closing months of World War 1 it was sub leased to the United States Navy as an operating base for U boat chasers. An oil painting of the Stars and Stripes on the island's flag pole was painted by a well known local artist of the time. The lease lapsed at the end of the war. |
See "Ferry stops."
One of the three major roads in Bermuda. It runs through the Parish going west, parallel to South Road and Harbor Road. The single bus route on this road is the #8, from the city via this Parish, west to Sandy's Parish and from there back to the city.
A recent addition is the pond, in which attempts have been made, not successful to date, to catch and transfer from Warwick Pond some live specimens of the precious endemic the Killifish (Fundulous bermudae), found in a special tank at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo - about 2.5 inches long, with a low dorsal fin, light brown to pale greenish yellow, darker on the ventral surface, with dark, indistinct greenish-brown bands on the sides. Still largely unknown to the general public. First described in 1874 by Gunther. Male and female have slightly different coloring. First illustrated in Beebe and Tee-Van's 1933 "Field Book of Shore Fishes of Bermuda. " A favorite place is a fresh to brackish water pond, especially when fringed with mangroves.
Appointed under the Parish Councils Act 1971. See under "Parish Councils" in Bermuda Government Boards. Awards an undergraduate scholarship to a parish resident for an approved university abroad.
A small but select shopping area, with a food store and a gift store.
Ten years after the repeated rape, sodomy, murder and torture in Bermuda - on July 3, 1996 - of Canadian teen Rebecca Middleton, this half acre Paget nature reserve of wooded hillside near Ord Road, on a stretch of the Bermuda Railway Trail, was formally named in her honour on late February 2006. It is owned by the Bermuda National Trust (BNT). It was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cook. Mrs. Cook’s maiden name is Middleton, and although no relation to Rebecca, she was particularly upset by the case and wished the land to be a permanent memorial. BNT president Hugh Davidson said the gift would continue a vision of an ‘Emerald Necklace’ of green spaces throughout the Island. He added: “The protection of this land will also help to preserve the wooded rural environment of this stretch of the Railway Trail."
See Bermuda Cuisine.
On Middle Road, the Anglican or Episcopalian parish church. The church has its own graveyard. One of the graves is that of 1940, November 26, commemorating the death in Bermuda of Harold Sidney Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, born April 26, 1868, Hampstead, London, England. A British newspaper proprietor who, with his brother Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe, built the most successful journalistic empire in British history and created popular journalism in that country. A shy individual, he let his brother handle the public and journalistic side of the business, while he handled financial matters. He is buried in grave 271, a prominent one, by itself.
A quiet, hilly to start with residential road that begins at South Road just west of the Lutheran Church. It has a number of homes, plus a Bermuda Telephone Company substation, Leading off it is Seabright Lane, going down to Hungry Bay. It is not generally known that from the City of Hamilton 3 miles away sewage is not piped from individual houses as is common in USA, Canada, UK, etc. Instead, a pipe pumps the city's raw sewage all the way from the city, under Seabright Avenue, to the Seabright Outfall located south of Hungry Bay.
In 2008 it was discovered that sections of the pipe had been either exposed or damaged. Waste could be pumped directly into the ocean if the pipe springs a leak because no back-up plan is in place to handle the sewage in an emergency. According to a report compiled by Canadian consultant Associated Engineering in May 2008, the current system has had a number of maintenance issues. Problems with the inner section have included concrete protection erosion and complete exposure during extreme storm events. During a recent site visit, damage to the concrete embedment over the pipe in the near shore was observed. The Corporation of Hamilton continues to address damage to concrete embedment within this section of the outfall. The middle section of the outfall extends to a distance of 1,640 feet offshore and consists of a 14-inch nominal diameter HDPE pipe held in place with anchor chains. This section of the outfall traverses the inner reef and passes through an existing cave in the reef structure. During severe storm events, this section of the outfall has been exposed on several occasions. The existing outfall system has provided reliable service to the Corporation of Hamilton, but does require occasional maintenance. Problems with the inner section have included concrete protection erosion and complete exposure during extreme storm events. The middle HDPE section has also required maintenance and has cracked, requiring the use of repair clamps. The outer HDPE section has not required any known maintenance. The middle section of the outfall is considered the most vulnerable. Ocean and seabed conditions in the inner and middle sections make replacement of the pipe with a deeper buried pipe difficult. Fears have been expressed of a possible environmental catastrophe. The Corporation is now looking at drilling into the ground so that a pipe would be completely covered and protected. But that is a huge expense. In its report, Associated Engineering suggests a method known as Horizontal Directional Drilling as a possible alternative to the current system and identified a number of locations as possible "launching sites" - the current Seabright Avenue location, Ocean Avenue, Ariel Sands, Palm Grove and Devonshire Bay Park. The firm estimated that the cost of the project would be between $9.3 million and $12.6 million, depending on which site is selected.
Market Place
Group has two stores, the Modern Mart on South Road, bus route
7, and A-1 Paget on Middle Road, bus route 8.
Most supermarkets are open every day (call to check times) including Sunday (from 1 pm to 5 pm). They are not as expensive as convenience stores.
Unlike in the UK and USA, liquor cannot be bought on Sunday.
Be prepared and budget in advance for Bermuda food and other prices. Store prices are very high compared to USA. Most visitors have no idea food shopping is so expensive. What a couple can buy in the USA to last them for a week will be less expensive than buying food in Bermuda for two days.
See under "Bermuda National Trust."
Last Updated: August
20, 2008
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