ABSTRACT
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Jamaica’s landscape was the receptacle for numerous prefabricated iron structures which were largely imported from Britain. Scattered across the island, these iron objects included bridges, markets, lighthouses, religious buildings, a hospital, the occasional town clock and drinking fountain, as well as colonnades, balustrades and brackets, stair railings and gas lamps. The most widely distributed building element was no doubt the corrugated iron roof, which became almost ubiquitous. While individual structures, including the Old Iron Bridge in Spanish Town, and the Naval Hospitals, Port Royal have been the subject of important scholarship, no comprehensive study of Jamaican architecture has yet concentrated on the significance of cast and wrought iron in the island’s built environment.1 The main focus of this chapter will be to probe the contexts and significance of selected iron structures, with emphasis on contemporaneous local perceptions regarding aesthetics and utility, especially in the light of their status as imported commodities.
