Today Peter took me on a drive up to Temple Hall and Castleton. Temple Hall belonged to Simon Soutar, and, in my lifetime, to his grandson, Rowley Crosswell (my mother's brother.) The property itself used to include a tobacco plantation, cattle, vegetables, chickens - a self-sustaining mini-economy. Not much of any of that is evident now, and, in fact it feels abandoned. It has since been sold a couple of times, and is now being converted to a convention center. Fee says no one has been able to live there since it went out of the family, and mentioned duppies ...
The Great House looks beautiful from the outside, but is being renovated and "repurposed" inside. We found someone on the property who allowed us to go inside, so we were able to take a few photos from the balcony. He says the grounds are currently used for weddings and other outdoor functions.
The feature I remember most is the aqueduct that runs along the edge of the lawn. On the other side of the aqueduct is the Wagwater River. We would go down and sit on the rocks at a tiny falls and let the water wash over our shoulders. The weather was changeable, and the rain begin really coming down just as we were leaving.Then we continued on up the road to Castleton, where there is a huge botanical garden. Peter said the British used it as a testing place to see what kinds of marketable plants would grow in Jamaica. Because it was drizzling, we didn't stay long or walk far. Photos are on Flickr in the Jamaica 2008 set.
