Scott's Head Village, taken from Scott's Head

Scotts Head is a village on the southwest coast of Dominica, in Saint Mark Parish. In 2001, its population was 721. Predominantly a fishing village, Scotts Head overlooks Soufrière Bay, which is protected as the Soufrière Scotts Head Marine Reserve. It is also a popular snorkeling and diving site for tourists.

The village shares its name with the Caribbean's only tied island, a small peninsula with a rising headland that extends westward from the village at Dominica's southwest tip. The Carib name of the peninsula is Cachacrou, literally "that which is being eaten (by the sea)";[1] this is possibly a reference to its location at the convergence of the Caribbean Sea to its north and the Atlantic Ocean to its south.

Top of the Scotts Head peninsula, with cable & wireless towers, and Scotts Head Lighthouse (farthest right)
Fort Cachacrou ruins including the remains of a stone wall as well as an old cannon. Below the wall is a body of water, Soufriere Bay.
Fort Cachacrou ruins, overlooking Soufriere Bay

At the top of the peninsula is the Scotts Head Lighthouse, a small lighted navigational aid[2] approximately 5 meters (16.4 ft) tall.[3] Also on the peninsula are the remains of the 18th century military battery, Fort Cachacrou.

Each year, in June or July, the Scotts Head village holds an annual feast in honor of Saint Peter.[4][5] The Scotts Head village also is host to Dive Fest, the Caribbean's longest running diving festival.[6] The festival includes scuba diving and freediving events, as well as food, entertainment, and competitions.[7][8]

Scotts Head is the start of the first segment of the Waitukubuli National Trail, the longest hiking trail in the Caribbean at 115 miles (185 km) long.[9][10][11] From Scott's head, hikers can hike 7 km (4.4 miles) to Soufriere Estate in about 4-6 hours.[9] Additionally, Scotts Head is the start of the Waitukubuli Sea Trail,[12][13] the first sea kayaking trail in the Caribbean.[14][12]

History

Scott's Head peninsula (Cachacrou) across Soufrière Bay, taken from Scott's Head Village

Scotts Head was originally called Cashacrou by the Kalinago people of Dominica.[15] It was later renamed after Captain George Scott,[16] who had served in the British invasion force that captured Dominica from the French in 1761 and then became lieutenant governor of Dominica from 1764 to 1767.[17] Scott oversaw the construction of Fort Cachacrou on the headland of the Scotts Head peninsula; the bulk of this fortification has collapsed down the cliff into the water, though some ruins remain, including a small cannon.


When the French retook Dominica in 1778 (only to hand it back in 1783 as a concession in the Treaty of Versailles), the fort at Scotts Head was the first invasion point and the site of the first skirmish.[18][19][20] In anticipation of the invasion, French inhabitants of Dominica visited British troops at the fort on 6 September, getting them drunk and then spiking the cannons with sand.[18][19][20] French fleets sailed between three and four o'clock on 7 September from Martinique, the French-controlled island directly to Dominica's south. When the French stormed the fort in the morning, the British were taken by surprise.[21][22] Once the fort was captured, the French fired a celebration signal, which was the first notice of the invasion the British had in the capital of Roseau to the north.[23]

References

  1. ↑ Honychurch, Lennox (1995). The Dominica Story: A History of the Island. Macmillan. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-333-62776-1.
  2. ↑ List of Lights, Pub. 110: Greenland, The East Coasts of North and South America (Excluding Continental U.S.A. Except the East Coast of Florida) and the West Indies (PDF). List of Lights. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2016.
  3. ↑ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Dominica". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2017-01-21.
  4. ↑ "IN PICTURES: Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul – highlighting the livelihood of a people". Dominica News Online. July 14, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Village Feasts and Special Occasions". divisionofculture.gov.dm. Division of Culture. Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  6. ↑ "Dive Fest to feature Dominica's phenomenal marine environment". www.thedominican.net. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  7. ↑ "Dominica's Dive Fest returns in 2023". Dominica News Online. June 29, 2023.
  8. ↑ Byron, Anglina (2023-06-30). "Dominica to conclude Dive Fest with Main Stage Event, Watersports Family Fun Day". Associates Times a Caribbean News website. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  9. 1 2 "Dominica's Waitukubuli National Trail ( WNT )". A Virtual Dominica. Retrieved 2024-01-04.
  10. ↑ "Dominica [trail map]". Experience Dominica. January 2017. p. 28.
  11. ↑ Baxter, Sarah (2019-06-01). A History of the World in 500 Walks. Aurum. pp. 256–258. ISBN 978-1-78131-937-6.
  12. 1 2 "Inaugural 'Waitukubuli Sea Trail' expedition sets off". June 9, 2022. pp. Dominica News Online.
  13. ↑ Haslam, Chris (2024-01-06). "Is this the Caribbean's overlooked alternative to Costa Rica?". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  14. ↑ Walker, Monica (2023-04-15). "Go Paddle explores Caribbean's only sea kayaking - Waitukubuli Sea Trail in Dominica". WIC News. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  15. ↑ Honychurch, Lennox (1995). The Dominica Story: A History of the Island. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-62776-1.
  16. ↑ Wylie, Jonathan (1982). "The Sense of Time, the Social Construction of Reality, and the Foundations of Nationhood in Dominica and the Faroe Islands". Comparative Studies in Society and History. 24 (3): 441. ISSN 0010-4175.
  17. ↑ Honychurch, Lennox (1995). The Dominica Story: A History of the Island. Macmillan Education. p. 66. ISBN 9780333627761.
  18. 1 2 Atwood, Thomas (2019) [1791]. The History of the Island of Dominica. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-7340-8072-2.
  19. 1 2 Fenger, Frederic Abildgaard (1917). Alone in the Caribbean: Being the Yarn of a Cruise in the Lesser Antilles in the Sailing Canoe "Yakaboo". G.H. Doran.
  20. 1 2 Honychurch, Lennox (2019-08-01). In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-2377-9.
  21. ↑ The Field of Mars: Being an Alphabetical Digestion of the Principal Naval and Military Engagements, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, Particularly of Great Britain and Her Allies, from the Ninth Century to the Peace of 1801. G..and J. Robinson. 1801.
  22. ↑ "An Account of the Capture of the Island of Dominica, September 8, 1778". Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure. Pub. for J. Hinton. 1778.
  23. ↑ Honychurch, Lennox (2019-08-01). In the Forests of Freedom: The Fighting Maroons of Dominica. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-2377-9.
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