For the benefit of Bermuda, to preserve buildings, land, artifacts and places of beauty or historical interest and to promote their appreciation.

— Bermuda National Trust Mission Statement.

ONE of the major features of this island that all Bermudians have in common and hold in trust for future generations is its historic architecture. Some do not believe that they hold such heritage in trust. Such historical assets, which are the foundation of all tourism that is not based on the natural environment or sports and play, are seen rather as impediments to the development and maximisation of short-term profits.

Such irreplaceable heritage wealth, the accumulation of centuries of labour and expense, can be cast away in the maw of a bulldozer’s work of an afternoon.

As we destroy the old in limestone, so that we may condomise the new in concrete block, we are eroding Bermuda’s historic architecture, one of the key ingredients in the mortar by which our national identity is cemented. In order to “promote the appreciation” of Bermuda’s almost incomparable historic buildings, the Bermuda National Trust, through a dedicated group of volunteers, embarked on a study of that architecture throughout Bermuda.

The findings have been published in several books thus far, including one on Sandys Parish, the most westerly district of the island, which catches the first of the prevailing winds from the southwest, leaving the other eight as the “lower parishes”, that is downwind of Somerset.

These heritage books are a remarkable achievement of the mission of the National Trust by many of its members throughout the community. The architecture of each building is discussed and an overview is given of its ownership over the centuries, where archival documents allow for such a history.

What is written in stone, however, is often not to be found expressed in the archives. In particular, the names of the masons seldom survive, although for some of the historic forts in Bermuda, there are lists for the men who erected them, including a mention of one of my ancestors, James Whitecross, a labourer at the King’s Castle in the 1790s.

I hope he learned how to cut stone and to mix a good lime mortar, the essential cement of the builder in these islands in earlier times.z9.3>Bermuda’s<$> domestic historic architecture is composed of the soft local stone, quicklime and sand for mortar, limewashes for paint, and local cedar. The stone, quicklime, sand and washes are but variants of the same material, lime, in much the way that water may be formed as ice or steam. Consequently, all the materials in the construction of earlier houses were sympathetic the one to the other.

The builders were also sympathetic to these materials and to the design of buildings made with them. In the days before architects became highly paid arbiters of style, Bermudians of all denominations designed and built their own houses, the beauty of which, be they small cottages or larger mansions, yet survives in the landscape.

Sometimes we need the outside eye to focus on the essentials of this architectural heritage. None has perhaps expressed it better than John Humphreys, professor of architecture at Harvard University, in his 1923 book simply called rmuda Houses<$>, the standard work on the subject before the publication of the National Trust volumes.

If Bermuda’s prosperity continues to increase, it is to be hoped that the designers of new houses that appear will seek their inspiration in Bermuda’s own older architecture. It is eminently appropriate to the climate and other local conditions, harmonious and in scale with its surroundings. It has a unity, charm and simplicity of an architecture that is the unaffected expression and natural outcome of environment and, from it simplicity, is entirely adaptable to the modern requirements of Bermuda.

The study of this unique vernacular architecture has become one of the modern requirements of the Bermuda National Trust and the efforts of its volunteer teams are now focused on Pembroke Parish.

As in other districts, there are major mansions, such as “Norwood”, but also a number of cottages of historical interest. One area being studied is North Village, between the eastern boundary of Government House and the western end of Devonshire.

At the time of the Savage survey of 1899, much of North Village, including the church, or Glebe lands, was sparsely settled. The district between Mission Lane and Crane Lane is of particular interest because of a group of small cottages built there some time after 1900.

In the centre of this cluster of cottages was an old farmhouse, possibly the original building in the area and visible in the aerial photograph of the 1940s. The farmhouse has been somewhat altered, as have a number of the cottages. Whoever built this group of cottages used a similar plan for each. They may thus represent some of the first modular, or “cookie cutter” cottages erected in Bermuda, as can be seen in the aerial to. The<$> cottage on the corner of North Shore Road and Crane Lane appears today almost as built, as it was in the days when I wrapped bread at General Bakery, a couple of doors away where a large church now stands.These cottages for a period belonged to and may have been built by a Joseph Samuel Vallis of neighbouring Devonshire, but not much else is known about them by the National Trust researchers. If you live in this area of North Village, or know something of the history of these unusual cottages, lend a hand to the volunteers of the Trust, who are working freely for the benefit of all Bermuda.

Speak generously with them when they come visiting, or by call Linda Abend on 292-8425 or Joy Wilson Tucker on 295-6849.

Anyone who contributes some good heritage information on this area will receive a complimentary copy of my new book, ritage Matters<$>, from the Trust volunteers.

One good turn deserves a good book, to publish an old saying in another way.

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Dr. Edward Harris, MBE, JP, FSA, Bermudian, is the Executive Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum. Commencan be sent to drharr$>@logic.bm or by telephone to 799-5480.