Field Journal

A Destination Guide to St Helena
Written by Daniel Neilson // Photography Courtesy of St Helena

Marooned in the middle of the South Atlantic, St Helena is a place where empires cast their prisoners and scientists sought answers in the stars, but the best way to explore the island’s remarkable history is along its trails.

St Helena’s history is a testament to its geography. It is both remote and strategic, distant yet an integral part of the machinations of trade that sailed on the Atlantic’s winds. It is where voyaging ships dropped anchor seeking resupply and where sailors sought respite. It is also where, today, visitors come in search of adventures both on land and at sea. Yet, this beautiful island bears the weight of its history, sometimes on the surface – you can still visit Napoleon’s residence-in-exile and see the defensive batteries across the island – while at other times it lies beneath, among the ships that sank off its shores.

It’s not a difficult exercise in imagination to hike the Post Box Walks of St Helena and reflect on the centuries since four ships of the 3rd Portuguese Armada brought the first humans here. From high above the capital, Jamestown, you can imagine the East India Company settlers who were granted the governorship of the island by Oliver Cromwell, and envision the 1,000 ships that stopped here each year while crossing the Atlantic in the 17th and 18th centuries. After all, the remnants of the past are still present: old gun batteries, Napoleon’s residence and his tomb, inscriptions in Chinese by indentured workers, and Plantation House, the home of every one of the 31 governors since 1792. Along the 25 self-guided Post Box Walks, you’ll observe forts, batteries and monuments.

There is a vast influence from cultures around the globe. Until the Suez Canal opened in 1869, St Helena was one of the most strategically important places on the Atlantic trade routes. Landing in its port and anchored off its shores were ships carrying Zulu chiefs, Boer prisoners of war and Chinese labourers. It was also a key stop on the Transatlantic slave trade route. Between 1840 and 1872, more than 25,000 liberated Africans were brought to St Helena by the British Royal Navy after being rescued from illegal slave ships, landing at Rupert’s Bay where they were processed and cared for. There’s a memorial in the Castle Gardens to commemorate the crew of HMS Waterwitch who died during the action against the slavers. There’s also a memorial site for the Liberated Africans in Rupert’s Valley.

Under southern skies

St Helena’s position also attracted scientists in pursuit of the great questions of the day. In 1677, astronomer Edmond Halley arrived to study the stars, building an observatory in Hutt’s Gate and charting the Southern Hemisphere’s skies. Later, Charles Darwin stopped here aboard HMS Beagle to explore the geology and unique flora of the island. His notes, described in the 1844 Geological Observations on the Volcanic Islands, would shape the ideas that would become the theory of evolution. Botanists, geologists and naturalists followed, drawn to the island’s endemic species and millions of years of geological activity.

Napoleon in exile

The most famous person to reside in St Helena was French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. We say ‘reside’; he didn’t have much of a choice. After his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon abdicated the Imperial throne and initially wanted to sail to America. But the British had other plans. Following his initial incarceration on the Isle of Elba, Napoleon had already escaped and rallied thousands of loyalist French troops to his banner – a bloody final chapter in the Napoleonic Wars. This time, keen to find somewhere a bit more out of the way, the victorious British chose St Helena. It’s hard to imagine a more remote prison.

On August 7th, 1815, Napoleon and his crew boarded HMS Northumberland and sailed for two and a half months to St Helena, 7,219km from Paris. He lived at Briars Pavilion for a couple of months until being moved to Longwood House, where he spent his days dictating his memoirs and exploring the island, always under the watchful eye of a British officer. Napoleon died here on May 5th, 1821, aged 51, and was buried in Sane Valley, a place he chose himself. In 1840, the French government requested the return of his body to France. A few years later, the British sold Longwood House and his tomb to the French government, which still owns it today.

Meet Johnathon at Plantation House

One St Helena resident has seen more of its history than anyone else. A tortoise called Jonathan. He arrived in 1882 – before the Boer War prisoners, before the Zulu chief, and before the royal visit of King George VI . Yep, Jonathon has seen a lot from his home in the grounds of Plantation House, the residence for every governor of the island since 1792. Tours around the house and to see Jonathan are available.

Exploring heritage on foot

The best way to experience St Helena’s past is to walk through it. Twenty-five official trails cross the island – the Post Box Walks, passing battlements, old settlements, signal stations, gun batteries, and places where the past is nowhere to be seen except written in the pages of history books. Each trail has its own ink stamp and its own narrative. Here are some of the highlights.

Banks Battery
The new Banks Battery and Buttermilk Point is a route with breathtaking coastal views, and Banks Battery, the northernmost fortification, is one of the dozens around the island built by the East India Company in the 18th century.

Flagstaff
The wide-open spaces of Deadwood Plain were once the site of a large Boer prisoner-of-war camp. The walk towards Flagstaff, a jagged summit that once held signalling equipment and military observation posts, crosses fields that are now home to the island’s last endemic land bird – the wirebird.

Lemon Valley
Descend the steep coastal path to Lemon Valley, once a vital restocking point for ships and now a popular spot used for swimming, camping and fishing. The trail passes the ruins of an old quarantine station. It is possible to pre-arrange a boat pick-up to avoid the walk back up.

The Barn
The remote walk to the Barn, a vast volcanic bluff with panoramic views across the east end of the island, is among the most dramatic and, with a crossing of Deadwood Plain in the mix too.

Each Post Box Walk tells part of St Helena’s long and complex story. They offer a tangible connection to an island shaped by empire and exile. For a land only discovered by humans in 1502, and first settled in 1659, St Helena has an importance far beyond its size. The history here is not locked behind glass in museums, but along the island’s trails. There to inspect, to touch and to connect to the past.