National Heroes Square

View of National Heroes Square, Bridgetown, Barbados, February 2007
The Cenotaph War Memorial and Lord Nelson's statue, November 2000

National Heroes Square, formerly Trafalgar Square, is located in Bridgetown, the capital and principal commercial centre of the island-nation of Barbados. The square lies along Upper Broad Street and is on the northern shore of the Careenage ("Constitution River"), found directly in the centre of Bridgetown.

Name

The current name of National Heroes Square was adopted on 22 April 1999 and officially took effect on 28 April 1999.[1] The name refers to the Barbadian National Heroes.

In 2009, the government of David Thompson opened up a proposal to rename the area as "Parliament Square", and to completely redevelop and reconfigure the Square's layout.

Statue of Lord Nelson

A fixture of the Square on the west-end includes a bronze statue of British naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson overlooking the Square. The statue in Bridgetown was erected unveiled on 22 March 1813 to commemorate the anniversary of the British Royal Navy's victory in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The local statue of Lord Nelson in Bridgetown was erected approximately 27 years before the more famous Nelson's Column which is located in London, England's Trafalgar Square. As a point of reference, Nelson has served as the decided upon centre of Bridgetown. During the colonial years many distances on the island from Bridgetown have historically been measured from the base of Nelson's statue.[2]

Gallery

References

  1. ↑ The Trafalgar Square (Change of Name) Act, CARICOM Law
  2. ↑ Carrington, Sean (2007). A~Z of Barbados Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean Publishers Limited. p. 135. ISBN 0-333-92068-6.

External links

Coordinates: 13°05′46″N 59°36′51″W / 13.09611°N 59.61417°W / 13.09611; -59.61417

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