Working by the light of the moon, a group of slaves toiled ceaselessly to cut stones from quarries and haul them on their backs and heads to achieve their dream of building their own chapel.

Yesterday, 175 years after they finished building Cobb's Hill Methodist Church in Warwick, Government leaders gathered to unveil the first plaque in Bermuda's new African Diaspora Heritage Trail in honour of those pioneers.

Acting Premier Alex Scott, whose family members worship and preach in the historic church, opened the plaque with Tourism Minister David Allen.

It is the first in a series of signs which will be erected at sites of importance to the history of blacks in Bermuda as part of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail conference, which begins at the Fairmont Southampton Prince on Sunday.

Edward Fraser, a young slave brought from Barbados by his owner Francis Lightbourne in 1818, was a preacher who encouraged other slaves to build their own church.

The Chief Justice at the time, James Christie Esten, was sympathetic to the Methodist cause, and gave the slaves a plot of land on which to raise their building.

In 1827, less than ten years after he arrived in Bermuda, Fraser had overseen the building of the church, become a free man, and moved to England where he was a preacher.

Mr. Scott, who represents Warwick East, said yesterday: "I have never been as proud of my roots.

"My family are buried here, I have family who preach here, and family who attend church here.

"Our monument today takes us all the way back to mother Africa, that's why this project is so extraordinary.

"Edward Fraser came here in 1818 and by 1827 he was a free man. He helped raise the funds to build this church by moonlight and then went to be a pastor in England."

Earlston DeSilva, the elder at Cobb's Hill Methodist Church, said at the ceremony: "It is amazing that a moment can start with the spirit working that can go on from generation to generation and century to century."

He said the work of the church today was similar to what Edward Fraser achieved - you enter church a slave and leave free.

Cultural Affairs officer Heather Whalen said: "This is a very proud moment, not just in the lives of black people in this country, but in the lives of Bermudians generally.

"It is important for people to know the heritage and the history and it helps foster a sense of identity. Our roots go back to Africa, that's from whence we came.

Mrs. Whalen added: "It is good that we are honouring where we are from in mother Africa. It is an example for our young people to know what these stones mean, what these symbols mean, so that when they grow up they can know what they represent."

Mr. Allen said the church was "one of the high points of the African Diaspora Heritage Trail".

Plaques will be opened at other sites at St. Peter's Church, Barber's Alley, Tucker House, and the Bermudian Heritage Museum in St. George's, St. George's Post Office, St. George's Historical Society Museum, St. John's AME Church at Harrington Sound, Gibbet Island, Crown Lane, St. Paul's AME Church, Hamilton, Dockyard, and Commissioner's House.