The Cottle Church was a small Anglican church which is located in the northern part of the smaller Nevis Island, that forms the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Located more precisely to the north of the island’s capital, Charlestown, the Cottle Church is hidden in the woods off the main road, and behind its ruins, a very interesting history is hidden.
As a matter in fact, the church was built in 1824 by the Nevisian lawyer, Thomas Cottle, who have built it and also allowed later for his slaves to come and worship. Since the church was accepting slaves, it was never consecrated, as it was illegal for slaves to worship in this area.
The first Reverend of the Cottle Church was Daniel Davis, who remained there until the church fell into disuse. This happened after the death of Thomas Cottle in 1828, only four years after the construction, and even though it was rebuilt by Governor Sir Graham Briggs in late 19 century, due to the population decline on the island, the Cottle Church was once again abandoned.
One of the major damages to the structure occurred in 1974 when a strong earthquake destroyed most of the building, and with the help of Hurricane Hugo in 1989, there were only the walls left standing.
In order to stabilize these historic walls and the visitors would get a small glimpse of the island’s history, in 2010 a restoration work was carried out so that it would help preserve what has been left of this magnificent and very important piece of religious structure, which was against all laws when Thomas Cottle allowed for slaves to enter and worship with him.
