Habitation Grand Camp

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

A typical example of the sugar houses of Guadeloupe in the 18th century is the Grand Camp, listed as a Historic Monument. The architectural complex includes a well-preserved master's house, boxes for workers, and the owner's house (responsible for agricultural management). These buildings illustrate the hierarchical organization of colonial plantations, where sugar production was based on a system of forced labour and a strict social division.

The industrial remains of the site include the ruins of a stone sugar factory, with a still standing fireplace, as well as a two-storey wooden boucan – a building dedicated to drying cane or meat. The presence of an ancient casemate, dating from the early eighteenth century, also underlines the strategic importance of the place, marked by military tensions and the need to defend the economic resources of the island.

The partial inclusion of the site in the inventory of Historical Monuments in October 2024 specifically concerns the ruins of the sugar factory, the casemate and the boucan, reflecting their heritage value as material witnesses to colonial history, both agricultural, industrial and military. These elements, located on the cadastral plot AD 375, offer a concrete overview of the economic dynamics and conflicts that shaped the Lower Earth in the Enlightenment century.

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