Wishing all of our members a healthy and safe
cup match holiday this year!
Bringing History Alive!
A partnership with the Ministry of Education enabled the Trust to bring history alive for 350  primary school students over six weeks for online learning during pandemic lockdown. Students in P4 and P5 in the public schools were treated to conversations with historic figures and a virtual visit to Verdmont historic house. Traditional in-person classes and field trips were replaced by online sessions designed and delivered by Trust Museums Manager and teacher Anna Ridgeway. Students learned about Bermuda’s earliest history, including how the economy and governance of the island developed under the Somers Isle Company. Commissioner of Education Kalmar Richards said: “The Bermuda National Trust has shared resources of great value, aligned to the Bermuda Public School Social Studies Curriculum. We appreciate the value of the partnership with BNT and look forward to continued collaboration in the near future.”

Trust Treasures: Bracelet, c.1850 - Tucker House
Our museums may be closed, but we can bring them to you! Enjoy the intriguing stories behind Trust Treasures.

Nobody mourned quite like the Victorians. Following the death of Prince Albert in 1861, Queen Victoria went into deep mourning for 40 years – the rest of her life. Strict mourning etiquette was rigorously followed, particularly by the upper classes. For example, on the death of a husband, a wife was required to mourn for two years; a sibling was mourned for six months; for aunts or uncles it was two months. Jewellery was part of the ritual, as demonstrated by this bracelet, on display at Tucker House. At first glance it may seem fairly inconspicuous, however upon closer inspection its true nature is revealed: the band is made from the hair of the deceased. It has been finely woven by hand into this intricate star pattern. The centrepiece is a tiny glass-fronted locket, which would have contained an image of the departed. The bracelet is just two inches in diameter, indicating it was probably worn by a child. While this artefact may seem a little macabre today, during the Victorian age such pieces were commonplace .
Nature Notes: Cow Parsley
Throughout Bermuda a rapidly growing tall plant with bubbling umbels of white flowers can be seen decorating the landscape at this time of year. Anthriscus sylvestris , commonly known as cow parsley or wild chervil, is typically found in grassy areas and woodland verges. It is a member of the carrot family and related to parsley with most parts being edible. Cow parsley is blooming in many of our reserves and throughout roadside verges. It creates a network of habitats that are living landscapes, enabling wildlife to move more freely across the island. This plant is most likely an  import by the early settlers and holds nostalgic value for many Europeans as it is native to Europe. it is native to both western Asia and northwestern Africa, too. While rarely found in well-kept gardens, it is a beauty to behold and provides nectar for both pollinators and other beneficial insects. That said, it can be weedy in nature as it produces substantial amounts of seeds and proliferates with the help of wind and water. It is very tenacious, forming a deep tap root which can regrow if damaged, so to eradicate it effectively the plant must be removed in its entirety. If it does regrow it’s worth considering it as a mildly fragrant addition to a salad or in a pesto.
BNT Properties: Fanny Fox's Cottage
Nestled at the northern end of the historic town of St. George’s, on Governors Alley, is 18th century Fanny Fox’s Cottage. This single- storey house is a great example of how small Bermudian houses tend grow over time. The oldest part of the building, believed to have been built about 1707, is a two-room gable-roofed structure facing the road and flanked by external chimneys.

The house had various owners over the years. By 1802 it was in the hands of Henry Adams, who died six years later leaving it to his wife Sophia. When Sophia died in 1810, she left it to her husband’s nephew, Benjamin Fox, when he reached the age of 21. Benjamin married Frances Zuill, known as Fanny, after whom the house is named. The story is that their marriage only lasted one night and her comment on the situation was that ‘he was a no-good creature anyway’. Whatever the state of their marriage, he left the house to her in his will and in 1834 she gave it to her brother William Edward Zuill, the great-great-grandfather of William Sears Zuill, the first director of the Bermuda National Trust.

The cottage was purchased by the Bermuda Historical Monuments Trust in May 1951 and is currently rented and not open to the public.
Annual Awards Nomination
The BNT annual awards are presented to recognise the individuals, organisations, groups and schools who have worked to preserve places of beauty and historical interest, buildings, artefacts, land and animal and plant life, and promote their appreciation. The Clipper Award is presented to those who recognise the importance of Bermuda’s Architectural Vernacular. This award is a   tribute to Rosemary Clipper, for her years of work on the Trust’s Historic Building Survey and her love for our unique heritage. In 2019 the Clipper Award was given to William and Peta White and Ted Wood from Botelho Wood Architects for the exceptional renovations made to Walford located on 34 Pomander Road, Paget.
Do you know someone who might be a candidate for this particular award?
Trust Treasures: Boot Rack, Verdmont
Here is another interesting story from our museums!

Visitors to Verdmont usually ask whether the house is haunted. The second most frequently asked question is “what’s that?” as they point at this unusual piece of furniture (pictured) located in the northeast bedchamber. Made of Bermuda cedar, it is 33 inches high and 35 inches wide. Its exact date is unknown, but it is likely to have been made prior to 1900. It is double sided with 12 deep notches at the top, and the lower bar has a series of pegs of varying lengths. The artefact in question is a boot-rack. Men in 19th century Bermuda, when the main mode of transport was the horse, would wear riding boots. Once they took their boots off, they turned them upside down and slid them into one of the notches at the top of the rack. Stockings or socks would be placed over the pegs below. It’s obvious when you know! It was donated to the Trust by the Bermuda Historical Society in 1957.
BNT Properties: IW Hughes Nature Reserve
Located off Harrington Sound Road, next to the large private Walsingham Trust, is the IW Hughes Nature Reserve. Partly donated by the heirs of Idwal W Hughes in 1982, this reserve represents a 1.25-acre addition to the 22 acres of the Walsingham Trust property.

Like its larger neighbour, the Hughes Reserve includes Bermuda’s oldest geological formation, known as the Walsingham, and is characterised by extensive pinnacle rocks and cave systems. One magnificent feature is the fracture cave which looks like a canyon and extends well below sea level. The rare native Bermuda Cave Fern can be found on the cliffs overhanging the cave. Due to this area’s ‘karst’ topography, making it rocky and irregular, it was spared from any kind of development. It was of no use for farming or grazing, the rocks were too hard to be quarried for building and it could not even be used for timber extraction. This allowed much of Bermuda’s rarest upland native and endemic flora to survive undisturbed here, including ancient Bermuda Olivewood trees which date back to the earliest days of settlement.
Eve’s Pond Restoration Update
Work at Eve’s Pond is going well. The pond has been excavated, and invasive plant species removed. The trail on the hillside leads to a vista point with stunning views over North Shore to Dockyard and St George’s. Some mature Bermuda Cedars and Palmettos have been
p lanted, along with some of our native understory species (the vegetation under the canopy of trees). . The next phase will involve assisting the native and endemic species to take hold, through quality conservation management practices.
Coronavirus SIP delayed the schedule for most of the planting, which has been postponed until October when there is likely to be more rain and the hurricane threat will have dissipated.
Between now and then turf will be installed and established to hold things together and soften the look of the space. Buy Back Bermuda is working hard on the project to have it open to the public in 2021. To get a bird’s eye view of the progress, click on our drone footage below.
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