During the “European Heritage DaysFour visits to the old Spring sugar mill, high above Concordia, were organized by Christophe Henocq, heritage archaeologist for the Collectivity. For two hours, the specialist recounted the life of the building and its occupants, before time and weather gradually erased their traces.
It was under a blazing sun that more than thirty people came to discover this heritage site. At the Spring sugar mill, vegetation seems to have conquered the stone everywhere you look, and it's not for lack of trying to tame it.
A colossal maintenance task
At the beginning of the visit, Christophe Henocq gives the floor to Romeo Shilling, a parks department employee for the local authority, has taken the upkeep of the former sugar plantation to heart. Hundreds of hours spent pulling up weeds, collecting litter, replanting… But a few days of rain are enough for the vines and weeds to thrive again. His goal: transform the unruly vegetation around the ruins into a botanical garden, where endemic and traditional Caribbean plants would come to “marry” the structure of the sugar mill.
Acquired in 1780 by John Hodge, son of the governor of Anguilla, the former factory suffered the effects bad weatherThe chimney and the last wall supporting the roof have collapsed during the passage of Hurricane IrmaThe circular chimney, which had been reinforced a few years earlier after being weakened by a cursed fig tree, is now nothing more than a sad pile of scattered bricks.
In 2017, wind and rain were not the only things to have damaged this old farm. 246 years the post-Irma reconstruction sites have dug the ground around the ruins with their trucks. Tons of sheet metal, wood, and debris torn up by the hurricane were also piled up on the site for nearly ten yearsDespite Romeo's efforts, some piles still remain, having become nests for iguanas and rodents.
Passing it on to preserve
What remains of the old Spring sugar and rum factory is its memory. A memory preserved by Christophe Henocq, Roméo Shilling, the heritage officers of the Collectivity, and experts. By recounting the history of the operation, Christophe Henocq and his colleague Fabrice Casagrande, archaeologist at theINRAP (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) In Guadeloupe, they also speak of the heat, the pain, and the injuries suffered by these men who worked the sugar fields all day for their master. In Spring, the walls are gradually disappearing, but the story can still be saved. The story of a plantation that employed up to 130 people enslaved and whose memory, in part, remains buried underground or in archives. Preserving these vestiges also means preserve an essential heritage to be passed on to future generations. _DR
