History of Castle Bruce

stle Bruce Estate was owned by J.F. Johnson, but he lived in Roseau and little was done to make the place productive. There was no road to transport produce to Roseau and few ships called at Castle Bruce bay any longer. When Mr.Johnson's daughter, Janet, inherited it, she only visited her land once in her life, and left overseers to take care of the place. Land was given for a one room school that was built in 1931 and still stands today. Eventually she sold it to the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in the 1950s. CDC built up the estate once more, planting coconuts, cocoa and bananas and employing many villagers.

In the 1950s many people left Castle Bruce to emigrate to the United Kingdom and later to the US Virgin Islands and mainland America itself. In 1972 controversy over the firing of some 54 workers and protest action, led by Atherton Martin, resulted in government intervention and the breaking up of the estate into smallholdings. The village was connected by motorable road in 1963 and the size of the village and the services available such as clinic, police station, enlarged school and a variety of modern conveniences have grown significantly since then. With the roads open many of the best pupils of the village school went to High School in Roseau and never returned to live in the village but with jobs in Roseau, the capital, set up homes and families in the suburbs such as Canefield and Goodwill. For more details such as the establishment of the Village Council and famous people in the history of the village itself it would be interesting for young people to embark on an oral history project to talk to, and record, older people who can still remember Castle Bruce in former times