NationNews.com concludes celebration of Black History Month, with the final article written by a student from the visual and performing arts division of the Barbados Community College. All students in that section are required to take a course in Caribbean Cultures.
HOUSING FOR SLAVES in Barbados became a necessity from the early days of slavery.
Slaves were brought into Barbados to work on the sugar plantations. They had to construct and repair their own houses known as “slave huts”. The most popular slave houses that were built in Barbados were the wattle and daub houses with a thatched roof.
Later, stone houses were constructed but also used thatched roofs.
Slaves worked hard on plantations, giving their all and taking everything their masters gave them. From early in Barbadian plantation history, slave settlements were placed very close to the plantation yard and almost within sight of the mansion house itself.
Wherever you see a slave hut, there is or was a plantation nearby. Most of the slave huts that are standing today can be found in the parish of St Lucy on the road to River Bay.
The most common Barbadian dwelling was deeply influenced by West African architectural forms. This house was a small, low, rectangular wattle-and-daub structure with a packed earth/dirt floor and a pitched, thatched roof.
Still in Ghana
Similar houses of this typical construction are still found in Ghana. There is evidence that enslaved persons were brought to Barbados from the Gold Coast region in the early years.
These enslaved peoples were of the Akan/Fante regions of Ghana.
As the slaves were responsible for constructing their own houses, it seems obvious that they would use the methods they knew from before and adapt some of the materials found in the environs here.
There were great similarities between the two constructions. The wattle and daub houses in Barbados and Ghana were of a rectangular shape. The same wattle was used for the construction of the main posts, which were twisted together for strength.
The mixture known as daub was made of the same components of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw. These components were compacted together and used to cover the wooden strips and at the same time make the walls smooth.
Wattle and daub
To construct a wattle and daub house, posts and sticks were needed. At least four or more forked wooden posts were driven into the ground to form a framework for the twigs interlaced around the posts to form the wall; branches or boards were laid on top to form the roof rafters.
The wattle was of interlaced twigs woven between the cane sticks. This method was always done by hand. The harder the sticks were the better for construction and maintenance, especially during the rainy season. When wood was lacking, the wattle of the walls was constructed of “the strong reed or cane of the Guinea corn”.
Anansi stories
From the African side, there is an Akan legend that tells about Kweku Anansi, the trickster spider god. These Anansi stories are well-known in the Caribbean.
It is said that Anansi taught the Akan people the art of weaving and the construction of houses. The adaptation of the seemingly British maypole dance by our Barbados Landship can be identified as a poignant memory of this weaving and construction method taught to the Akan people long before the transatlantic slave trade.
Huts like this needed constant maintenance and frequent replacement. In the mid-17th century, thatching was used on Barbadian planters’ houses as well as poor whites’.
The carpenters and artisans knew the craft and worked assiduously to build strong houses.
Roof thatching materials in Barbados were mainly plantain leaves (especially in the 17th and early 18th centuries).
The plantain leaves were used because there are large, strong, waterproof, flexible and also decorative. Palm leaves or branches were also used and the most common material available was the leaves or trash of the sugar cane.
Although there is no data on dimensions of Barbadian wattle-and-daub houses, commentators often referred to them as relatively small and implied that stone and wooden dwellings were larger.
Several of these constructions can still be found around Barbados, although many have improved the materials now in use for windows and doors.
Errol Barrow, the first Prime Minister of Barbados, also lived in one of these rectangular structured houses with a thatched roof.
As a boy, Barrow lived in the property of the O’Neal family in St Lucy. Though now not in good repair, the frame of the house is still standing today. (left)
It is hoped that some assistance can be given to protect and safeguard the other legacy of our heritage.