Bermuda still feels the effects of enslavement and segregation in the 21st century through inequality, trauma and violence, the Anglican Bishop of Bermuda said yesterday.

The Right Reverend Nicholas Dill spoke during a service at a former graveyard at the Rubber Tree in Warwick, where freed and enslaved Blacks who could not be buried on St Mary the Virgin Anglican Church grounds were laid to rest.

He said the site, directly across the street from the church on Middle Road, is one of many across the island that bears witness to Bermuda’s history of enslavement.

Bishop Dill explained: “Its effects did not end with emancipation in 1834, because from that time in 1959, that legacy was expressed through segregation.

“Since then, inequality, multi-generational trauma, prejudice, imbalance and bias have continued to affect the lives of too many.”

Dozens of people, including Andrew Murdoch, the Governor; Joan Dillas-Wright, the President of the Senate; and MPs Neville Tyrrell, Curtis Dickinson, Douglas De Couto and Paul Wilmot all attended the ceremony, which honoured those buried at the site.

All remains were eventually exhumed and placed into a common grave in the St Mary’s cemetery and the Rubber Tree was then used as a dumping ground until a half-acre of the land was sold to the Government in the 1960s.

Historian and St Mary’s parishioner Andrew Bermingham and parish administrator Janet Bento read all the names that could be recovered from the site, who ranged in age from a day-old infant to people in their eighties.

Mr Tyrrell, who also chairs the Warwick Parish Council, said: “Speaking their names and remembering their stories is an important act of recognition, ensuring they remain part of Bermuda’s shared history.

“This occasion also reminds us that remembrance is not simply about looking to the past, it’s about understanding our history honestly, acknowledging injustice and continuing to strive for healing, reconciliation and respect.”

Mr Murdoch and others placed wreaths at a memorial during the service, the first of three being held to mark St Mary’s 400th anniversary.

Mr Bermingham said: “Over the years, [the site] has deteriorated through no fault of anybody and this is the first step in revitalising what the area stood for.”

St Mary’s will also celebrate its 400th anniversary with a jazz service on September 27, where books documenting the church’s history will be sold for $25, and a rededication on October 4.