Dear Sir,

Following the Royal Gazette article of October 19 concerning the development at the Fairmont Southampton, I would like to clarify the Bermuda National Trust’s position and explain why we continue to advocate for proactive archaeological assessment at the property.

Our concern is that development of this exceptionally significant historic landscape must be informed by appropriate archaeological investigation before irreplaceable evidence is disturbed or destroyed.

Westend Properties has stated that many of the BNT's concerns were addressed in the July 2023 Environmental Impact Statement. While we acknowledge that the EIS considered cultural heritage, an environmental impact assessment is not equivalent to a comprehensive archaeological assessment undertaken by professionals with the requisite archaeological expertise. The two have different purposes, methodologies and levels of investigation.

The distinction is particularly important at the Fairmont Southampton, given both the scale of the proposed development and the extraordinary historical significance of the property.

The land was surveyed by Richard Norwood in 1616 and includes some of Bermuda's earliest documented settlement landscapes. Surviving correspondence, historical maps and other records identify early farms and agricultural activity associated with settlers, servants and enslaved people.

Of particular significance are Francisco and James — also recorded as Sarnando — two African men documented as establishing independent farming households on the Rich family's Southampton holdings in the early 17th century. Their histories are exceptional in the early English Atlantic world, yet the precise locations of their homes remain unknown. Archaeology offers an opportunity to recover evidence of lives and experiences that are otherwise poorly represented in the historical record.

The property also contains later archaeological resources, including evidence of Bermuda's military history and Second World War coastal defences. Its significance therefore extends across more than three centuries and includes stories of international as well as Bermudian importance.

Although portions of the property fall within designated Historical Protection Areas, archaeological resources may survive well beyond their boundaries. The absence of a formal heritage designation does not mean the absence of significant archaeology. This is especially important across such an extensive property, where historic maps indicate former settlements whose precise locations have not yet been established.

The BNT has been raising these concerns for some time. Our archaeology research committee, comprising professional archaeologists and cultural heritage specialists, prepared detailed archaeological guidance specifically for the Fairmont Southampton redevelopment. We submitted this to the Department of Planning in November 2025 and wrote to the Premier, Deputy Premier and relevant ministers and senators on December 8, outlining our wider natural and cultural heritage concerns regarding the 2025 special development order.

In January 2026, we forwarded our archaeological guidance to the developer, offering further assistance and collaboration. Westend Properties responded on February 18, referring to the 2023 EIS, its commitment to heritage conservation and its ongoing engagement with the Government's heritage officer. The company indicated that further details would be addressed through subsequent planning applications.

We welcome the developer's stated commitment to conservation. However, waiting until individual development applications are submitted risks missing the opportunity for archaeological evidence to inform the overall design, phasing and construction programme. This is precisely why the BNT has consistently advocated for early investigation.

Our guidance, prepared and offered free of charge, outlines the stages of professional archaeological assessment, field evaluation, mitigation, reporting and archiving. It explains how archaeological work can be integrated into development planning to minimise uncertainty, unnecessary costs and construction delays.

The first step should be a comprehensive, professionally prepared archaeological assessment of the wider property, drawing on historic maps, documentary research, previous investigations and an understanding of proposed ground disturbance. This would identify areas of archaeological potential and establish where further investigation is warranted. This does not mean excavating the entire property. It means identifying what may survive, assessing its significance and making informed decisions about preservation or investigation before groundworks begin. Such work must be undertaken by archaeologists with the appropriate professional qualifications and experience in archaeological assessment and cultural resource management.

The BNT welcomed the approach taken by The Loren at Elbow Beach, where archaeological expertise was commissioned, an archaeological management plan prepared and appropriate investigations undertaken.

The Fairmont Southampton is a very different proposition. Its considerably greater scale, unusually rich documentary record and potentially extensive archaeological resources warrant a correspondingly thorough approach. The principle, however, remains the same: archaeology should inform development, not simply respond to discoveries made during construction.

Our purpose is not to obstruct development. It is to ensure that this exceptional historic property receives the professional archaeological attention it warrants, at a stage when the findings can still influence decisions.

Bermuda's archaeological heritage is finite. Once destroyed without appropriate investigation, the evidence it contains cannot be recovered. At a site of the Fairmont Southampton's significance, we have both an opportunity and a responsibility to get this right.

CHARLOTTE ANDREWS

Head of Cultural Heritage

Bermuda National Trust