First Catholic Church
In the 1850s, this building housed the first Catholic Church, with the ground floor used as a chapel and the upstairs as the Presbytery, serving the newly arrived Portuguese. Since then it has had several owners, including the Mendes family; Fraser and Smith, architects; and the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA). It also housed the Odd Fellows Lodge. It is an example of a three-storey brick building with stone quoins, an offset stair and arched basement openings.
The building was used as a Catholic church in the 1850s, not long after the first Portuguese immigrants arrived in Antigua.
This building differs from those buildings where the first floor was for business while the family lived upstairs. In this case, the first floor was latticed in for privacy and ventilation. The arches provide entry to the ground floor cellar.
The photo below shows the same building looking north on Redcliffe Street, when it housed the offices of Fraser and Smith Architects who renovated it in the 1980s. Before that it was the home of the Mendes family, who had a tennis court next door, and also the Odd Fellows Lodge.
St. Michael’s School
Another historical building, at 36 Redcliffe Street, housed St. Michael’s School. Up until the early 20th century, this building was owned by the Thomas Foote family and used as their town house. At that time, many sugar planters had houses in town, which they used when they came to town for a ball or a dinner, or to do business. The building was then bought by the Auchinleck family, one of whom was the Harbour Master and another was the Head of the Antigua Grammar School. In the 1950s, it passed to the Diocesan Council of the Anglican Church and became St. Michael’s School, an all-boys school that is fondly remembered by those who attended. It moved to Cassada Gardens in 1988 and was by then co-educational.
The building had a hip roof with a single side gable and a projecting two-story verandah, enclosed by louvered panels. It was torn down in 1991 and replaced by the ABI Insurance Company building.
