About Gros Islet

Originally settled by the Carib (and possibly Arawak), a French map from 1717 provides the first identification of the area as Gros Islet. The community has had a long history of being a Roman Catholic parish, as the first priests who arrived on the island settled in the village in 1749.

In 1778, as a retaliation for the declaration of war on the British by the French, the British navy captured the island of Saint Lucia from the French, and built a naval base at Gros Islet Bay in 1782 - temporarily changing the name to Fort Rodney. The island as a whole has switched hands between the British and French throughout its existence.