One day, the Fountain Cavern, a ceremonial place of worship for the early inhabitants of Anguilla and their visiting Amerindian friends from neighbouring islands, may become one of the most preserved and developed tourist attractions in the region. It will also be remembered as a place when the more modern inhabitants braved the steep decline to fetch buckets of water from the fresh springs on the floor of the coral cave at Shoal Bay North.

L-R: Governor Huckle, Dr. Piras, Hon. Victor Banks, Damien Hughes (at microphone) and Hon. Neil Rogers

A high-powered workshop, aimed at drawing up a Statement of Significance for submission of the Fountain Cavern as a World Heritage Site, looked at the historical and cultural features of the cave over a three-day meeting at Paradise Cove Resort from Monday to Wednesday this week. The workshop, with considerable participation by the Anguilla Government, was co-sponsored by UNESCO, the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sports and the World Heritage Centre. The well-chosen theme was Sharing Anguilla’s history with the Caribbean and the World.

The workshop attracted such leading persons as Dr. Pinagrazia Piras of UNESCO, Dr. Chris Blandford and Dr. Amanda Chadburn, two UK archaeological experts, Dr. James Petersen and Dr. John Crock of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Vermont. There were also representatives from Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bonaire, Cuba, Curacao, Jamaica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent as well as from Anguilla. Governor Alan Huckle and Acting Chief Minister and Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism, Victor Banks, spoke at the opening ceremony.

Section of the Fountain Cavern

The first address was delivered by Dr. Piras, who expressed gratitude to the UK Government for supporting the workshop, the Anguilla Government for hosting it and the Executive Director of the National Trust, Damien Hughes, for organising the logistical aspects of the event.

She said that she and her colleagues had come to Anguilla not only to provide information but to learn about the national policies and legislation and about the Fountain Cavern which could potentially be nominated to the World Heritage list. She also spoke of the work in other parts of the Caribbean where there were now 15 World Heritage sites.

Local and overseas representatives at the workshop

Dr. Piras made the point that a fully-written Statement of Significance was not likely to be achieved at the end of the workshop. She however stated that it was expected that there would be an agreement on the methodology, content and key information to be further developed locally during the nomination document preparation.

Governor Huckle said the Fountain Cavern was a treasure of great historical importance which needed to be preserved with a national park around it. “This will take time to implement and it will require funding support from outside donors,” he stated. “The task will be made much easier if the Fountain Cavern is successful in gaining UNESCO World Heritage status. Until then access to the cave must continue to be strictly controlled to prevent theft or violation of the carvings inside.

Local and overseas representatives at the workshop

The Governor observed that the nomination process might be frustrating to some persons who were keen to see the plans implemented. He assured his listeners that last year’s visit to the Fountain Cavern by British Minister for Culture, Lord McIntosh, was testimony to the UK’s interest in nominating the site for World Heritage status.
He described the workshop as “an important step forward in making the case for the Fountain Cavern as a site of outstanding universal value.”

Mr. Huckle continued: “It is now merely a matter of putting the documents together in the requisite form to make the necessary impact on those assessing the site’s intrinsic value as a World Heritage site. My understanding is that, although the Fountain Cavern is only on the UK list of tentative sites, the UK Government intends to put it forward as the UK’s nomination for 2009 (the UK is allowed to submit only one nomination a year). Even then, however, the site will still have to be inspected by UNESCO experts. Nomination does not guarantee designation as a world heritage site. But this workshop is a significant step forward. The Fountain Cavern is on the way – and Anguilla must persevere in producing the best documentation it can.”

Local and overseas representatives at the workshop

Mr. Banks noted that the Anguilla Government had already completed a feasibility study for the development of the site as an eco-tourism project, national park and visitor centre. He pledged that the Government would be “unswerving and steadfast in ensuring that the Fountain remains a preservation, conservation and development priority.”

The main portion of Mr. Banks’ address, giving an interesting historical and cultural narrative of the Fountain Cavern, is printed elsewhere in The Anguillian.

Local and overseas representatives at the workshop

Other participants in the opening ceremony of the workshop were Executive Director of the Anguilla National Trust as Master of Ceremonies, Damien Hughes, who gave the invocation; Reverend John A. Gumbs, a former Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, who recited a poem entitled “Man You’re in Charge” and Karim Hodge, Director of the Environment, who gave the Vote of Thanks.

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