Jamestown, St Helena

Jamestown
St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Jamestown
Location
Location:	15°55’28"S, 5°43’5"W
Data
Population:	714  (2008)
Local Government

Jamestown is the capital of the island of St Helena and of the British overseas territory of St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cuhna in the South Atlantic Ocean. Located on the island's north-western coast, it is the island's port, with facilities for unloading goods delivered to the island, and the centre of the island's road and communications network. It has a population of 714 (2008 figures).

Jamestown from above.

Jamestown was founded in 1659 by the East India Company and named after James, Duke of York, the future King James II of Great Britain. It is built on igneous rock in a small enclave, sandwiched between steep cliffs that are unsuitable for building. The town is therefore rather long, thin and densely populated, with tightly knit, long and winding streets. Shrubs and trees decorate some of the street corners. The surrounding terrain is rough and steep. The town's population has been shrinking, in line with the shrinking island population as a whole but also as a result of the growth of Jamestown's "suburb", Half Tree Hollow.

The town has some examples of British Georgian-era colonial architecture and is proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many buildings are built out of local volcanic rock. St James' church dates from 1774 and is the oldest Anglican church in the Southern Hemisphere. A steeple was added to the church in 1843, but removed in 1979 when it became dangerous.

Another of the town's prominent features is Jacob's Ladder, a staircase of 699 steps, hewn from the rock in 1829 to connect Jamestown to the former fort on Ladder Hill. The ladder is very popular with tourists, is lit at night. A timed run takes place there every year, with people coming from all over the world to take part.

On the seafront stands the war memorial and behind the Castle. The Castle was built by the East India Company in 1659 as a fortress for the island but much of its original fabric was destroyed by termites and it had to be rebuilt in the 1860s and it is now used for the Government Savings Bank. The Castle stands beside the Town Gates, rebuilt in 1989, which divide the main town from the face of the open sea. Behind the gates the town open up into the Grand Parade around which stand the Church, the Court and the Library, and from which Jacob's Ladder begins its long climb to the hilltop. From the inland side of the Grand Parade runs the short Main Street.

The deposed Emperor Napoleon spent his first night on St Helena lodged in Porteous House on Main Street in Jamestown, now demolished.

Outside links

• St Helena - Jamestown
• More pictures of Jamestown