This thesis reviews the architectonic heritage from Spanish colonization of English Caribbean territories, and the legacy produced prior to English and other European conquests from Spain. Investigation commences with the 1492 arrival of Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean. Using the examples of the Spanish period on the island of Jamaica that ended 1655, and on the island of Trinidad until 1797 when both became English colonies, the research seeks to define their architectonic environment, as well as how this may represent the wider Non-Hispanic Caribbean.
Architectonic covers the built heritage and its cultural landscape to include both rural and urban environments embracing coastal settlements, town settlements, as well as individual structures and construction elements for churches and shrines, dwellings, bridges, aqueducts, and generally industrial heritage. To commence, the thesis presents an examination of the Aboriginal environment prior to European contact using examples from across the Americas. Additionally, it compares contemporaneous activities within the wider Americas, and events in Spain. Information has been gathered from resources in Archives and National Libraries, using mainly the visual material of historic maps, atlases, and other illustrations accompanied by their descriptive analyses. This is enhanced by scholarly publications of this resource.
Identified in this thesis is Aboriginal Architecture within its territorial framework, and the Spanish intervention on these including the introduction of Spanish-Creole Architecture, all leading to the evolution of Caribbean Vernacular Architecture. The thesis puts forward that there is a continuum of this heritage into the English Caribbean today, and attempts to provide a framework for attribution. Further, it hopes to break the silence about the physical environment of prior Spanish settlements of the English Caribbean, in order to demonstrate potential linkages between Non-Hispanic and Hispanic regions of the Americas. It promotes the conservation of this heritage, and its integration into wider discourse presenting it for engagement at various levels of sustainable development in the Caribbean, including for cultural tourism.
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