Message from the Executive Director

Recent tragic events in Bermuda have left our whole community shocked and saddened. At the Trust, we believe deeply that natural and cultural heritage matters to people’s sense of identity and can be an important source of strength for the community. We welcome your thoughts on how heritage can help support our island’s healing and cohesion at this time.

Work is ongoing to enhance the experience at our museums and better engage locals and visitors with these historic places and their stories. Our Trust Museums Plan is now online and we would be delighted to receive any feedback.

At Waterville, we have embraced the tradition of ‘fixing up the house’ for Cup Match. Our three public rooms are having a much-needed lick of paint, and we have taken the bold step of reintroducing colour, as Georgian interiors were often painted in vibrant shades. Tempting though it was to go for Somerset colours in the west drawing room and St George’s colours in the east dining room, we finally opted for blues and greens from the Benjamin Moore Williamsburg Collection of heritage hues. Stop by for a look after the holiday and pick up your 2025 BNT calendars at the same time.

Jeremy Smith painting the parlour in Waterville.

Happy Cup Match!

Karen Border

Executive Director

2025 Calendar has arrived!

We are excited to have our 2025 calendars available for purchase. Photographers young and old, amateur and professional, were invited to send us their photos relating to this year's theme, Bermuda's Flora and Fauna. We were delighted to receive over 400 images and the very best were chosen to be featured in the calendar. Congratulations to the People’s Choice winner Laurie Zuill.

The calendars cost $14 each and are now available from Waterville, BNT Museums and various bookstores and shops around the island. Pick up your copy soon - and they make wonderful gifts!

Cultural Heritage Updates

Dr. Charlotte Andrews, Head of Cultural Heritage

Gates portrait back on public view

A significant and magnificent portrait of Sir Thomas Gates is once again on public display in Bermuda and can now be seen at the Trust’s Globe Museum in St. George’s.

The portrait, painted in 1617 by Dutch master Jan van Ravesteyn, was gifted to the Government of Bermuda in 1971 with the proviso that it should remain under the care of the Bermuda National Trust. For decades it hung in the Cabinet Office but was removed in 2018 and held in storage.

Thanks to Minister of Education the Hon. Diallo Rabain, the Director of Libraries and Archives Joanne Brangman, Acting Archivist Karla Ingemann and Records Officer Mandellas Lightbourne the portrait has been handed back to the Trust for display.

Charlotte Andrews with Records Manager Mandellas Lightbourne and the portrait of Sir Thomas Gates.

Sir Thomas Gates, the appointed Governor of the Jamestown settlement, was aboard the Sea Venture when it wrecked on Bermuda on 3 August 1609. His portrait therefore fits perfectly into the early settlement story told at the Globe Museum. He is seen alongside matching-scale ship models of Sea Venture, Deliverance and Patience on loan from The St. George’s Foundation, a series of settlement paintings by Christopher Grimes on loan from Centennial Bermuda Foundation, and an exhibit on the story of survival and settlement that connects them.

The Globe Museum is open over the Cup Match holiday 10am-3pm on Thursday 1 August, 10am-2pm on Friday 2 August and 11am-2pm on Sunday 4 August. Visit bnt.bm for all opening days and times.

World Heritage collaborators

Professors Emma Waterton and Jason Dittmer from the Heritage for Global Challenges Research Centre returned for the second summer in a row to continue their Engineering Memory research project in the World Heritage Site of St. George’s.

Among the interviews and focus groups they conducted this summer, Emma and Jason met with PwC interns who spent the day at Globe Museum learning about the story of St. George’s. The contributions of these young Bermudians to the research focus group will help shape research findings that can enhance the management and meaning of our World Heritage Site.

Professors Jason Dittmer and Emma Waterton (top centre)

with 2024 PwC interns at Globe Museum.

Natural Heritage Updates

Myles Darrell, Head of Natural Heritage

Reason for hope

Thirty years ago, the “strategy” for looking after open spaces tended to be “benign neglect.” It wasn’t a terrible idea; after all, the land was securely conserved for future generations and protected from development. Plus, nonprofit organisations such as the Trust had limited resources to dedicate to these areas, which, on the face of it, could look after themselves.

However, it has become clear over the past decade that this approach no longer works. There are two main reasons for this: the explosion in invasive species throughout Bermuda and the dramatic upsurge in development of our island.

Bermuda's people are running out of wild and natural areas. So, some of the remaining spaces that were beautiful, quiet and relatively unattended (benignly neglected) have been co-opted by some members of the community to benefit themselves, depriving the wider community of the open space as a place for peace and passive recreation. For example, on one property a racing track was created by motor cycling enthusiasts; on another people used the woodland for an outdoor office to conduct illegal business; perhaps most shockingly, some people took advantage of the lack of oversight to encroach on these public spaces to develop their own properties.

Looking southwest across Paget Marsh Nature Reserve.

These abuses have led to a shift in focus with the realisation that more care and vigilance is required to protect our green spaces. But unfortunately, there are still only limited resources to carry out the work. As an NGO and membership organisation, the Trust depends on community support both for funding and actual hands-on work. Students, adults and corporate teams come out to do some serious hard labour at the reserves. Individuals, foundations, and corporations make grants to cover costs and their support is very gratefully received.

We have some very exciting news to announce: Aspen Re has made a long-term commitment to support the Paget Marsh Nature Reserve, a globally important wetland. They have adopted the reserve and will fund its management and maintenance for the next five years. This is a spectacular gift! Along with the Conduit Foundation, Aspen Re has already supported the repair of the Paget Marsh Boardwalk and we are so appreciative that the company has decided to make a long-term commitment to the future of this significant space.

Please note, we will still need our volunteer teams on site – there is much to be done, at Paget Marsh and nature reserves throughout the island. Volunteers, please don’t stop!

We all understand the importance of having quality green spaces to find solace from our urban living, support biodiversity, and reduce the impact of climate change. It is exciting to have a reason for optimism for the future.

Heritage Education Updates

Anna Stevenson, Heritage Education Manager

Our July holiday camps were a blast!

Climate Change Agents had children learning about renewable energies, mangroves and eco-homes, as well as making artwork from ocean plastics collected at Grape Bay.

Pirates, Boats and Forts was a fun-packed journey into the past: from galleons and brigs to sloops and man-o-wars, the kids discovered what made pirate ships so hard to catch, explored east end forts and admired treasures from the deep at BUEI.

In the Awesome Trails camp, the children took a walk on the wild side with scavenger hunts, geocaching, foraging and exploring in nature reserves across the island.

Fantastic Photography introduced campers to the basic skills of photography, with each day focused on different skills or themes, as the children travelled around the island taking photos at Tom Moore’s jungle, St George’s, Dockyard and Cooper’s Island.

Built to Last

The Perot Post Office was in pristine condition when this photograph was taken in 2015.

Perot Post Office, 9 Queen Street

This is part of a series of architectural articles by the Bermuda National Trust that highlight some of Bermuda’s endangered historic buildings.

By Linda Abend and Margie Lloyd, Bermuda National Trust

Bermudians walk past this building daily but most would be hard pressed to tell you its history other than perhaps its recent use as a Covid testing centre. Now known as the Perot Post Office, the two-storey Georgian-style building was built sometime around 1850.

In January 1819 William Bennett Perot became Hamilton’s third postmaster. He lived at Par-la-Ville, now the Bermuda Library and Historical Society Museum, the house built by his father William Perot and uncle James on the five-acre property they owned just outside the western boundary of the new town of Hamilton. He first ran the post office from a room in his home.

Click here to read the full article