Christ Church ruins in Morant Bay may be St Thomas's earliest Anglican church

Investigators examining the ruins of Christ Church in Morant Bay, St Thomas, are weighing evidence that the site may be the parish's first Anglican place of worship, predating the parish church now standing in Morant Bay Square.

Archival notes displayed at the present Christ Church state that the first rector for Morant Bay, a Mr Nicholas, was appointed in 1666 but died shortly after arriving, most likely from yellow fever. In 1671, Governor Sir Thomas Mifford informed the British government that Mr Pickering, director of St Thomas and adjoining St David at Port Morant and Yallahs respectively, had recently died and could not be replaced. No church building in Morant Bay was mentioned in those early years; the governor reported that settlers gathered for worship in each other's houses.

By 1682, the rector for Port Morant and Morant Bay, Mr Johnson, had either just arrived or was expected to take up duties soon. Worship was likely no longer confined to private homes, and services were probably conducted from a dedicated church — most likely the original Christ Church whose stone walls still stand in ruin.

The exact year of construction remains uncertain. Old church records were lost when the Morant Bay courthouse was destroyed by fire during the Morant Bay disturbances. Tomb dates within the ruins, including that of Marmaduke Freeman who died in 1709, suggest the church was built in the late seventeenth century, in time for Rector Johnson.

Morant Bay grew from English settlement planning dating to at least 1671, when surveyors were instructed not to obstruct arbours, ports or bays and to reserve land for churches, courthouses and other town structures. The English crown and the Church of England were closely linked, and appointing a rector was seen as essential to developing towns such as Morant Bay — then a chief port and later the parish capital.

On Summit Road, a separate heritage concern centres on a colonial-era building known locally as the judge house, identified as St Thomas's first courthouse. A farmer who has tended the property for more than thirty years, through Hurricane Gilbert and repeated vandalism, says the structure is actively falling down. He has sought documentation from land authorities and argues that heritage bodies should support caretakers who protect such sites. The two-storey stone building retains the red colouring still associated with courthouses across Jamaica, with evidence of a former upper courtroom and a lower level that may have served as a holding area for prisoners awaiting transport to jail in Morant Bay. An early motor car once linked to a colonial judge, long parked nearby, has reportedly been sold for scrap.

Advocates say both Christ Church and the courthouse warrant formal recognition and sustained preservation before further deterioration occurs.