Anguilla / Special Interests / Culture & Heritage

Anguilla does not immediately come to mind when you think of Caribbean culture, but like most of the islands its roots can be traced to the Arawaks who settled here more than 3,000 years ago. After fleeting visits from the French and Spanish, the island was settled by the British in 1650.

Anguillians today are largely descended from slaves, brought to the island to work the sugar and cotton plantations and who, after Emancipation, scraped a living as peasant farmers and fishermen. Their trade with neighbouring islands involved Anguillians travelling back and forth in locally-built boats. The increasing competitiveness of the homeward journey, when the boats vied with each other to be first back, spawned the island’s boat-racing heritage that survives to this day with its famous Boatrace. Held every summer as part of Anguilla’s carnival celebrations, it also brings together the islanders’ love of music and partying, that you will find on many other Caribbean islands. However, in common with other West Indians, Anguillians are a church-going nation and modest with it as nudity is against the law and frowned upon by islanders.

Anguilla’s scrubby surroundings do not hold many clues to its heritage. A surprisingly high number of churches are scattered across the island – in fact there is one every two square miles - along with a couple of museums, an old salt factory and a sole remaining plantation house. Yet, since its transformation from a neglected coral outcrop to one of the Caribbean’s leading upmarket destinations Anguilla has gained a reputation for gourmet cuisine following the establishment of a string of excellent restaurants, helped by the Gallic influence of neighbouring St Martin. The Anguillians themselves are a gentle and gracious people and it’s hard to reconcile this with those who took part in the 1967 revolution – dubbed Britain’s Bay of Piglets – when angry islanders rose up in an armed, if gentlemanly, revolt against British bureaucracy that was intent on forcing Anguilla into an independent state with St Kitts and Nevis.

As one of the lesser-known and developed Caribbean islands, Anguilla has taken steps to preserve its unspoilt environment both on land and at sea and a special heritage tour aims to open up the territory’s heritage attractions.

The newly-opened Anacaona Boutique Hotel styles itself as the “unofficial cultural centre of Anguilla” and promises to give guests a more in-depth taste of Anguilla’s culture through local entertainment – music, dancing and dinner theatre. The 27-room property says it wants to bring back the “olden days with a modern twist”.

For further details on Anguilla's Heritage see our Places of Interest and Things to Do sections.