Parishes of Barbados

Template:Short description Template:Politics of Barbados The country of Barbados is divided into sub-regions known as parishes.

Terminology

They are legally styled as the "Parish of (parish name)" as opposed to the American naming convention with "Parish" coming after the name.<ref>Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.573, 286.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The use of the term "parish" derives from the island's religious Anglican history under the Church of England.

History

The system of parish churches was originally based on the system of the Church of England and was the visible expression forming the basis of the parliamentary representation in Barbados. The differing size and shape of each parish were primarily influenced by the large plantation estates of cotton, sugar cane and tobacco that existed during the colonial years of Barbados. As various chapels of ease were created during the 17th century across the island, some local churches were elevated to parish church status, leading to the formation of new parishes surrounding those freshly created vestries.

By 1629, the English settlers after landing at James Town formed six original parishes on the island which were:<ref name="Barbados Parliament website">Template:Cite web</ref>

• The Parish of Christ Church,
• The Parish of St. James,
• The Parish of St. Lucy,
• The Parish of St. Michael,
• The Parish of St. Peter, and
• The Parish of St. Thomas

By 1645, the land holding of Barbados increased and the shape of the original six was reconfigured giving way to an additional five parishes.<ref name="Barbados Parliament website"/> Some prior churches of the state within the existing parishes were elevated to the level of parish church and as a consequence they formed new parishes around those new vestries:

• The Parish of St. Andrew,
• The Parish of St. George,
• The Parish of St. John,
• The Parish of St. Joseph, and
• The Parish of St. Philip.

Thus Barbados was converted into the current eleven parishes of today corresponding to the earlier church parishes. As was common under the British system, each parish had a single main parishional church (or cathedral in the case of Bridgetown having been elevated to city status), which acted as a sort of capital for each parish.<ref name="A to Z">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The parishes each held their own local government councils until these were abolished in 1959, following a brief administrative districting experiment within Barbados until 1967.<ref name="A to Z"/>

List

Template:Map of Barbados Within the country, travel is unrestricted to everyone in moving about from parish to parish. With increasing urban sprawl and new construction projects across the country many neighbourhoods and even parishional border-lines today are ill-defined.

The eleven parishes are:

Parishes of Barbados, with some details

Short name	Long name	Land area	Population (census 2010)	Density	Historic vestry
Christ Church	The Parish of Christ Church<ref>Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.573</ref>	Template:Convert	54,336	Template:Pop density	File:Christchurchparishchurch.jpg Lead church of the parish
St. Andrew	The Parish of Saint Andrew<ref name="Barbados p.586">Laws of Barbados, Volume 2, p.586</ref>	Template:Convert	5,139	Template:Pop density	File:Saint Andrew, Barbados 011.jpg Lead church of the parish
St. George	The Parish of Saint George	Template:Convert	19,767	Template:Pop density
St. James	The Parish of Saint James<ref name="Barbados p.586"/>	Template:Convert	28,498	Template:Pop density
St. John	The Parish of Saint John	Template:Convert	8,963	Template:Pop density	File:St John's Church Barbados.JPG Lead church of the parish
St. Joseph	The Parish of Saint Joseph<ref name="Barbados p.586"/>	Template:Convert	6,620	Template:Pop density	File:Saint Joseph, Barbados 001.jpg Lead church of the parish
St. Lucy	The Parish of Saint Lucy<ref name="Barbados p.586"/>	Template:Convert	9,758	Template:Pop density
St. Michael	The Parish of Saint Michael<ref name="Barbados p.586"/>	Template:Convert	88,529	Template:Pop density
St. Peter	The Parish of Saint Peter	Template:Convert	11,300	Template:Pop density	File:Speightstown 015.jpg Lead church of the parish
St. Philip	The Parish of Saint Philip<ref name="Barbados p.586"/>	Template:Convert	30,662	Template:Pop density
St. Thomas	The Parish of Saint Thomas	Template:Convert	14,249	Template:Pop density

See also

• Constituency Councils
• Geography of Barbados
• History of Barbados
• Transport in Barbados
  • Barbadian vehicle registration plates
• ISO 3166-2:BB
• List of cities in Barbados
• List of West Indian first-level country subdivisions
• List of Caribbean islands by area
• List of Caribbean islands by political affiliation
• List of Caribbean island countries by population
• List of metropolitan areas in the West Indies

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Barbados parishes
• Barbados Statistical Service (BSS)
  • Barbados Government census by Parish