The Round House

TIMES INT'L

The Round House is located on the seawall at Kingston in Georgetown. It stands on the site of what was once Camp House, the residence for the colony’s governor, which once included Sir Benjamin Durban. The residence was destroyed in the Great Kingston Flood of 1855.
Prior to this, Camp House was a storehouse and military headquarters for a while. It was erected for the senior officer-in-charge of the garrison troops around 1800-1805.
It had established the area as a military area, with barracks, a fort, hospital and parade square. Some of these buildings are still standing today.
After the 1855 flood, a plaque near the Round House at the sea wall states that the wall commenced at the battery in 1855 and completed to that point in 1860.
Constructed by the Dutch as a lookout point, the Round House was furnished with guns to protect Port Georgetown in the 19th century.
The area and the neglected Round House had earned a negative reputation since it had become home to vagrants, as well as an ambush point for thieves who lay in wait for visitors to the seawall who wandered too far from the more public areas.
It was repaired in 1995 after the Department of Culture began its “Round House Project”, which sought to declare that area a historical site for several reasons, including that it is considered the oldest section of Georgetown and has the oldest architecture in the city.
In addition, the site is described as the first “look out” point when Demerara became the main trading area, and is the beginning of the seawall we know today.

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