On July 31, 1838, slaves gathered outside this church for an all-night vigil, awaiting midnight and then the dawn of full freedom (to quote the emancipist Reverend Knibb: ‘The monster is dead’), when slave shackles, a whip and an iron collar were symbolically buried in a coffin nearby. Behind the church you can find Knibb’s grave. A plaque inside the church displays the internment of these tools of slavery; to get in, ask at the Leaf of Life Hardware store on King St.
William Knibb Baptist Memorial Church
Montego Bay & Northwest Coast
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
23.02 MILES
You can smell the sweetness of molasses wafting from the Appleton Estate well before you reach it, almost a mile northeast of Maggotty. The largest and…
25.85 MILES
Deeply secluded in St Elizabeth parish, you’d be forgiven for thinking YS Falls emerged out of Eden. This series of seven cascades, hemmed in by limestone…
11.03 MILES
This splendid 1770s mansion is the most famous great house in Jamaica. John Palmer, a wealthy plantation owner, and his wife, Rose (after whom the house…
8.14 MILES
This marvelous estate, sitting high on a hill, is not as famous as Jamaica's most famous great house, but offers a far more intimate and interesting…
29.01 MILES
This historical park overlooking the sea, less than 1km west of present-day St Ann’s, marks the site of the first Spanish capital on the island – Sevilla…
29.67 MILES
Few of Jamaica's waterfall experiences match Mayfield Falls for crowd-free natural beauty. Picture this: you climb into the cool river beneath giant…
6.9 MILES
A lane lined with palm trees leads you to the landscaped grounds of Hampden Great House estate, dotted with strutting peacocks. Tours assemble beneath a…
22.52 MILES
An unexpected bloom of pine trees, mahogany and mahoe grows atop the flinty heads of the Cockpits 3km northwest of Christiana, near Coleyville. This…
Nearby Montego Bay & Northwest Coast attractions
0.12 MILES
The best place to orient yourself is Water Sq, at the east end of Duke St. Named for an old circular stone reservoir dating from 1798, the square …
0.13 MILES
The market structure on the east side of Water Sq, which dominates central Falmouth, was once the site of slave auctions and now encloses a mediocre…
0.14 MILES
The restored Baptist Manse (not open to visitors), dating back to 1798, was formerly the residence of nonconformist Baptist preacher William Knibb, who…
0.16 MILES
One block east of Water Sq is Seaboard St and the grandiose, yellow Georgian courthouse in Palladian style, fronted by a double curling staircase and…
0.19 MILES
The oldest extant building in town (and the parish's oldest church) is St Peter’s Anglican Church, built in 1796 and topped with a tower in 1842. It lies…
0.19 MILES
At the top of Market St, opposite Scotiabank, is the ruin of Barrett House, missing its top floor. Built in 1799, it's hard to believe now that this used…
0.2 MILES
Tharp House sags from age yet is still one of the best examples of an elegant period townhouse. Today housing the tax office, it was formerly the…
0.22 MILES
One of Falmouth's most distinctive buildings, Phoenix Foundry was built in 1810 and sports a strange-looking conical roof. Behind the foundry, guarded by…