Ilet Chancel

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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The island of Chancel, located in the commune of Robert in Martinique, is the largest of the 10 islands in the region, extending 2 km long and 0.9 km wide. Formerly called Monsieur's Islet, he was renamed Ramville Island after his acquisition by Dubuc de Ramville, and then took his current name in 1891 after his acquisition by Mr. Today, Bally's private property, the island preserves emblematic ruins: a sugar house (cachot, well, bread oven), a lime oven with circular staircase, and the remains of a pottery destroyed by cyclones. These installations bear witness to a threefold economic activity in the eighteenth century: sugar production, heating and pottery, a rarity in Martinique.

The ecological value of Chancellor Island lies in one of the last Caribbean diguana colonies (Iguana delicatissima), a protected species whose females wear a green robe and grey males. In 2006, approximately 600 individuals were registered. The site, classified as a Historical Monument since 1995 for its ruins (potry, lime ovens, dwelling), also illustrates colonial architecture: the Negro square, the only building still covered with tiles, recalls the slave system that underpinned these farms. The lime kilns, strategically placed near the sea, facilitated the supply of limestone and the quenching of lime after cooking.

The Chancel island thus embodies an industrial, historical and natural heritage. Its geographical isolation has preserved its remains, while making it a sanctuary for an endemic endangered species. The traces of artisanal activities (canalizations, collapsed walls) and the offshore structures underline the ingenuity of colonial production methods, now frozen in time. The site, although private, remains a symbol of the interactions between human exploitation and environmental preservation in an island environment.

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