The Port of Sandy Point, St Kitts

The town of Sandy Point sits along the western coast of St Kitts, England’s first colony in the Caribbean, on an island shared with a French colony. As the plantation economy grew on St Kitts, Sandy Point Port grew in importance and exported sugar throughout the Caribbean, receiving imports of slaves which provided the labor that supported the economy. The port lay directly in the middle of the French and English territories on St Kitts. This made it the center of a power struggle, which culminated in the Battle of Sandy Point in 1666, and explains the history of the famous Charles Fort.

Christopher Columbus traveled to the Leeward islands on his second voyage to the Caribbean in 1493, where it is believed he named the island Saint Christopher (though there is also speculation that he initially named the island San Jorge, and it was later referred to as Saint Christopher by Spanish and English sailors) At the time Kitt was a common nickname for Christopher, explaining the gradual shift towards calling the island St Kitts. However, long before Christopher Columbus, the Siboney people made their way onto the island and undoubtedly named it something else that we do not have a record of today. They were followed by the Arawak people, and later the Carib people, the latter of which named it Liamuiga, which translates to “fertile land.”

In January of 1623, Thomas Warner arrived on St Kitts with 15 other men looking to settle the island with a patent from King James I. By this time the indigenous population had greatly declined to less than 1000 people. To Warner’s surprise, there were also three Frenchman on the island.They had already begun growing tobacco, which was to be England’s main cash crop on the island. The English and French coexisted, in part because of resistance to colonization by the Carib people on the island.The Europeans divided the island among themselves, with the French getting the northern and southern regions of the island, and England the land in between. The French territory became known as St Christophe and the English as St Christopher. Sandy Point Town lay directly on the northern border between the two nations.

Tobacco production was so successful in the American colonies that its price was falling greatly. In 1639 the English and the French ordered the destruction of all the tobacco plants and prohibited new plantings for at least 18 months in order to raise demand (and prices). Sugar was first planted during this moratorium, and quickly became the main product of the island. Soon, hundreds of slaves labored on large sugar plantations. This aided England’s long term goal of establishing a greater presence in the Caribbean, but the position of Sandy Point caused tensions between the English and the French. These came to a head in 1666, when France entered the war on the Dutch side of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

Word of the French’s involvement in the war reached the English Governor of St Kitts, William Watts, in April, 1666. Both sides began preparing their troops for war. The French, led by French Governor Charles de Sales, moved along the north coast towards Sandy Point, hoping to launch a surprise attack on the English. De Sales was killed in battle along the way, leaving command of the army to Chevalier de Saint-Laurent. Saint-Laurent continued the marchWhen the French army of around 350 men arrived at Sandy Point, they stared up a hill at an English army of about 1400. Yet the French somehow managed to kill both Watts and Morgan, and wiped out a large chunk of the English forces, driving the rest of them back to Old Road Town, a town about 3 miles south along the western coast. The English surrendered to the French the next day, leaving the French with complete control of the island. Only the English who owned land on the island were permitted to stay, and they had to surrender their arms and pledge their allegiance to the French king.

A year later, in 1667, the Treaty of Breda restored England’s portion of the island. The English focused on restoring and improving the island’s defenses, as the tension between the European powers in the Caribbean remained high. This prompted King Charles II to fund the construction of Charles Fort, which highlights the importance of St Kitts to England’s endeavors in the Caribbean. The fort took 12 years to complete and became one of the largest coastal forts in the Caribbean. A second fort, Brimstone Hill Fortress, was constructed directly behind Charles Fort. These two forts were strategically placed to balance out each other’s shortcomings. These forts influenced fortifications throughout the Caribbean.

1. Dyde, Brian. Out of the Crowded Vagueness: A History of the Islands of St Kitts, Nevis & Anguilla. Macmillan Caribbean, 2005.
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3. Morse, Jedidiah. “CHU.” The American Gazetteer, At the Presses of S. Hall, and Thomas & Andrews, Boston, 1797.
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5. Pierre Gill, Cameron St. "Brimstone, Sea and Sand: The Historical Archaeology of the Port of Sandy Point and Its Anchorage." Journal of Caribbean History, vol. 53 no. 1, 2019, p. 163-173.
6. Pierre Gill, Cameron St. “The Port of Sandy Point and Its Anchorage.” Historic St. Kitts, https://www.historicstkitts.kn/places/the-port-of-sandy-point-and-its-anchorage.
7. Ravell, Anthony, and Thomas Jefferys. St. Christophers or St. Kitts. [London, 1775] Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/74691603/>.