Residents of College Land, St John, are calling for urgent action on a multimillion-dollar project aimed at delivering reparative justice for people occupying lands that form part of the Codrington estate.
Backed by the Codrington Estate Tenants and Farmers Union, a group of tenants, many of whom are descendants of those who worked the estate during the plantation era, recently gathered at the college to voice their desire for greater involvement in the $18 million community initiative.
In response to the community’s concerns, the Codrington Trust’s executive secretary, historian Kevin Farmer, shared a detailed vision of the project. He framed the 15-year initiative not as a commercial venture but as a groundbreaking, evolving framework designed to address historical trauma and bring long-term, structural benefits directly to the local population.
Historian and Executive Secretary, The Codrington Trust Kevin Farmer. (RR)
The recent gathering outside the theological seminary – the oldest in the western hemisphere – highlighted the deep emotional and cultural ties residents hold to the land. Speaking on behalf of the union, Keith Forde expressed concerns that the initiative, originally introduced in late 2023 as the Renewal and Reconciliation: The Codrington Reparations Project, might be shifting away from its original ideals after its title was adjusted to The Codrington Project.
“The current project that’s being run on the estate, which claims to be providing reparations, does not actually provide any reparations for the atrocities that were committed on the estate,” Forde said, explaining that residents are eager to see a more direct, tangible impact on their daily lives.
A primary point of discussion centres on land security.
While the Trust has highlighted its efforts to help tenants purchase their plots, union representatives noted that the Tenantries Freehold Purchase Act has already guaranteed residents the right to buy their land since the 1980s.
“It is unclear how by allowing us to purchase our properties now, that can be seen as a part of justice,” Forde noted, suggesting that meaningful reparative work should build substantially on existing legal rights.
Residents also expressed fears that funding from the UK-based United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG) might resemble a commercial investment rather than grassroots community support.
They have called for greater transparency regarding financial accounts, clearer communication over land surveys and leases, and more consistent access to the historic grounds.
Priest Ras Ian, who grew up in the area, said the community wishes to be treated as traditional, core stakeholders in the estate’s future rather than as observers.
For the union, a truly comprehensive healing process would include robust, ongoing educational and medical programmes tailored to the community’s modern needs.
Reflecting on these concerns, Farmer described the project as an honest, long-term effort to confront the estate’s difficult past and build a better future together. He said the initiative rests on five pillars: family genealogy research, locating and honouring ancestral burial grounds, examining the estate’s historical finances, expanding land ownership, and reassessing historical theological teachings.
“From the beginning, we acknowledged that the $18 million over the 15-year period was simply not enough, and that there was never enough money that can atone for the trauma,” Farmer said. “But we can begin to build out a systematic platform to enable renewal and reconciliation.”
Addressing concerns about land administration, Farmer said the Trust is working to resolve longstanding legal and structural delays that have prevented residents from obtaining clear titles.
“Our first meeting, we’d indicated to the tenants that by 2028, we’d like to have a meeting like this, where we can all say that everyone is a landowner,” he said. He added that many tenants had previously hesitated because of concerns about property taxes. After research showed that properties valued below $150 000 are exempt, more families felt comfortable proceeding. “Over the last year, 25 persons have received their conveyances. More people are coming forward.”
Farmer noted that resolving historical tenancies is a delicate process requiring precise land surveys and careful legal work, particularly when properties must be transferred after a relative’s death. “It does take time. It does lead to frustration… but the project allows us to do that work. Prior to that, the Trust simply did not have the ability.”
He also outlined progress in economic and educational initiatives, including a newly launched entrepreneurial workshop in which a first cohort of more than 20 residents is gaining skills in law, administration and finance.
The programme is expected to evolve into a sustainable loan-grant system to support local businesses. Farmer also announced plans to launch an academic and vocational scholarship programme in the coming weeks.
Looking ahead, he described a vision in which the community is commemorated not through distant monuments but through living spaces, including a multi-use community centre, library and park. The Trust has also been working with the government on immediate improvements, including grading the area sports field and installing solar streetlights in darker areas of the tenantries.
Acknowledging the emotional weight of the estate’s history, Farmer said open and patient dialogue would be essential.
“In this, we’re not going to be able to please everyone. Some people are not going to be happy. We accept that,” he said. “But we also accept open, honest, and respectful dialogue.
That’s key…. Ten years from now, I hope we have set a benchmark that when people say reparative justice is some willy-nilly woke initiative, we can point to the Codrington Project as proof that it is not.”
Born in Barbados in 1668, Christopher Codrington became a soldier, colonial governor and Oxford scholar who amassed substantial wealth from sugar plantations in Barbados and Barbuda worked by enslaved Africans.
On his death in 1710, he left his estates in his will to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (now the SPG) to establish a college in Barbados.
Contemporary church records and later research suggest he envisaged an institution teaching “Physics and Chirugery [surgery] as well as Divinity” and saw the bequest as a means of extending education to black children. In practice, however, the college that emerged in 1745 began as a white grammar school – later The Lodge School – and an Anglican theological college training candidates for the priesthood.
The Codrington lands, which extend from Society to Consett Bay, have been held in trust since the 18th century, with no ownership by residents permitted under the terms of the bequest.
(RR)
