most significant English settlements in the Western Hemisphere, Hamilton Rotarians were told this week.

Corporation of St. George's secretary, Larry Jacobs, told the Rotary Club that resources to run the town were inadequate.

Many of the buildings, he said, were not kept to the same standard as other parts of the Island and the town did not receive the same level of services as Hamilton.

And although work has been done to preserve the architecture of the buildings, the Preservation Act lacks power to truly preserve the town's heritage.

However, he told the Club that all that was changing as the Corporation embarked on the $20 million St. George's Town Heritage Plan.

"Over the past year-and-a-half, we have been experiencing the beginning of a rebirth in the old town,'' he said. "A rebirth that will soon develop further, a rebirth that we hope will turn the tides of time in our favour.'' Mr. Jacobs told the Club that a recent fact-finding mission to the historic towns of St. Augustine, Florida, and Jamestown and Williamsburg in Virginia, turned into a quiz about St. George's.

Members of the Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Tourist Board, local historians and business leaders finished the trip three weeks ago.

"We visited these towns to learn how they preserved their important places in history and how they survive today as modern vacation destinations.

"We learned a lot about these historic towns, but what we really learned was the historical significance of our own St. George's.

"Indeed, the archeology and architectural staff at the premier historical site in North America are more excited about St. George's than they are about their own Jamestown and Williamsburg,'' said Mr. Jacobs.

St. George's, he said, could lay claim to being the oldest continuously inhabited town of English origin in the Western world.

In addition, Mr. Jacobs said with proper archeological digs, he was confident of finding the oldest, still standing and occupied, buildings in the New World at St. George's.

"What we have learned is that St. George's is truly one of a kind, something that is more recognised, unfortunately, by individuals that reside outside our shores than it is by people who live here,'' he said.

Many buildings in the town were not kept to the same standard as others on the Island and St. George's was not as prosperous as other parts of Bermuda, said Mr. Jacobs.

He said the total budget to run the town was $1.9 million -- which was inadequate -- and one of the most historically significant towns in the Western world was "under-funded'' and a "bit tattered around the edges''.

Mr. Jacobs said it had also neither took advantage of nor profited from its historical significance.

Now, he added, that was being corrected with the Heritage Plan which will preserve the town's history and improve its appearance.

Work has started on the plan and with other donations, such as the Bank of Bermuda Centennial Fund, more work will soon follow, although the timescale for completion is 15 years.