Historical Background of St. Gabriel’s, Church

St. Gabriel’s Anglican Church, La Romain, had its beginnings in the little church of St. Mark’s which was established in Rambert Village in 1931 under the leadership of Reverend F.J. Butt. In 1941 that building was broken down and relocated to La Romain, and in this new environment the church was called St. Gabriel’s. Reverend R. Perrygore was the rector at that time.

The removal of the church from Rambert Village to La Romain was a decision which was extremely pleasing to its members because most of them lived in La Romain and the nearby districts of Bamboo Village and Duncan Village. No reason, however has been advanced for the change of name from St. Mark’s to St Gabriel’s and, it is understood that much lobbying took place to have the name, St. Mark’s retained. Nevertheless the church continues to be called St. Gabriel’s to this date.

St. Gabriel’s Anglican Church, though not an imposing structure, has come a long way from those days in the early 1940s when it’s dirt floor was encased by those dark red wooden walls and an unceiled galvanise roof. The scenic site on which the church stands was, as in the case of its precursor -St. Mark’s, a gift from the late Sir Norman Lamont, the owner of Palmiste Estate. Since its erection in 1941 the several priests and their congregations have always endeavored to improve the church’s physical appearance while enhancing the spiritual development.

Shortly after the church first opened its doors on this hill a wooden floor was laid over the earthen one, and in the mid-fifties a concrete structure was built. Father Oswald Alexander who was then Sunday school teacher, Choir Master and a Lay Minister (among other things) did much of the actual construction work. The church received in those days considerable financial and moral assistance from Ms. Bynoe now deceased. The Rector during this period was the late Rev. Fr. H. Bindley-Taylor. The present state of the building is the result of extensive renovation which began in 1988 under the direction of vestry member Mr. Ralph Clarke.