SWANSEA forms part of the Hopewell Estate, south of the resort town of Ocho Rios.
In 1802 the land was owned by James Henry, a member of the House of Assembly (Jamaica's early system of government). In 1852 the property was owned by a John Low Walker. It remained in the Walker family until the 1930s.
From 1930 to 1937 it was owned by a Dr Myers. It was then bought by Mildred Kathlene Rennie who passed it on to her son John, the current owner, on her death in 1996.
It is said that Mr Moncrieffe, owner of Union Valley, the property opposite Swansea, owned horses which he raced at Swansea. Today a portion of the old race course is used as a playing field.
Swansea is uninhabited and consists mainly of pastoral lands, having been used for cattle rearing since the 18th Century.
Swansea had an imposing mansion house (pictured), probably built between 1780 and 1790. It was destroyed by Hurricane Gilbert in September 1988.

This article originally appeared in Planet Swansea which was published by the South Wales Evening Post.

Swansea, Jamaica