Outameni experience for Trelawny

The cultural attractions landscape is about to get a fillip with the birth of Outameni Experience on the outskirts of Falmouth.

The Orange Valley Great House in Trelawny which is being converted into the Outameni Experience.

The creators of this new attraction have used Trelawny's colourful history as one cornerstone of the development.

Old houses are constant reminders of our rich, social history and Trelawny is a treasure throve of these icons. When you drive through Falmouth, you still see ample evidence of the wealth that once dominated the town and its environs in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Once a part of the parish of St. James, Falmouth was one of the major commercial centres of Jamaica. Across the parish, businessmen invested their profits in building classically designed townhouses, public buildings, and great houses with European architectural embellishments.

body formed

So impressive were these buildings that when a group of American and Jamaican preservationists accidentally stumbled on the Orange Grove Great House hidden among dense vegetation, high on a hill in Cooper's Pen, they formed the Orange Grove Restoration Association in 1968 to preserve this and other grand old buildings in Trelawny.

The Orange Grove Great House still stands high on the hill preserved by the present owners-Orange Valley Holdings, the creators of Outameni Experience. It will form the perfect backdrop for the English Village of Outameni Experience..0

What is the story with this great house? In 1764, the Hampden Plantation first hired two friends as doctors to be in charge of health services on its property and the adjoining estates. They also made a pretty penny catering to the free population within a 10 to 12 mile radius of Hampden. With this fortune, Dr. Thomas Steel and Dr. William Wright built Orange Grove Great House in 1770.

Dr. Wright studied and used native herbs for their medicinal benefits. One wonders if he learned these interesting and valuable home remedies from the African slaves as he included over 700 verified species of herbs in his practice. He introduced his findings to his peers on his return to England in 1777.

During this period, Dr. Steel married the daughter of a planter in 1775 and fathered five children by her. He became ill and died of a fever in 1785. One wonders if his partner's herbs could have saved him. Dr. Wright had earlier returned to Jamaica in 1784. Devastated by the death of his partner, he left the Orange Grove Great House in the hands of the executors and left Jamaica at the end of 1785.

an epitaph

Orange Grove Great House remains an epitaph for one of the smallest plantations in Trelawny. In its heyday, its slave complement never exceeded eighty Africans. The well-preserved great house, a decaying sugar mill, an adjoining well and a few unmarked graves are the only remnants of the plantation era.

Five acres of the land are being used for the new attraction - Outameni Experience. Designed by Evan Williams of Design Collaborative, it will showcase the lifestyle of the Taino, Spanish, Africans, British, Indians, Chinese and today's Jamaican potpourri. Construction is well on the way providing employment for many people in Trelawny and St. James