WeddingBelles Featured Location

Greenwood Great House

The Greenwood Great House is one of many old (and original) plantation homes still accessible from the 1800s. This property is of historical significance as it is situated on land given to Hersey Barrett, an officer in the Penn and Venerables Expedition, after they captured Jamaica from the Spanish in 1655. Eventually, the family amassed 84,000 acres and assembled over 2,000 slaves to produce vast quantities of sugar. The house (unlike numerous other homes) was not destroyed during the slave rebellions of the 1830s which set fire to the dwellings of hated masters. The Barrett family’s most notable member was the author and poet Elizabeth Barrett-Browning.

Greenwood is a reminder of the turbulent period in Jamaica’s history when wealthy plantation owners lived in luxury thanks to the profits of the slave labor used to power sugar plantations. (The poet's father, Edward Moulton Barrett, "the Tyrant of Wimpole Street," was born at nearby Cinnamon Hill, the estate of the late country singer Johnny Cash.)

Highlights of Greenwood include oil paintings of the Barretts, china made for the family by Wedgwood, a library filled with rare books from as early as 1697, fine antique furniture, and a collection of exotic musical instruments. There is a pub on-site as well. The great house and grounds are another perfect location which we have available for your wedding ceremony and reception.