Spanish Town Baptist Church

Spanish Town Baptist Church, or Phillippo Baptist Church as it is better known (at the junction of Cumberland Rd. and Williams St.), is located a few blocks northwest of the square. The church was built in 1827 on an old artillery ground and later went on to play an active role in the abolition movement. Abolitionist Reverend James Murcell Phillippo arrived in Jamaica in 1823 and later established the church with help from freed slaves. On the night of emancipation in 1838, when local authorities granted Jamaica’s slave population full freedom, 2000 freed slaves were baptized in the church. There is a tablet in the churchyard commemorating the act of emancipation, which was celebrated there after the proclamation was read in front of Old King’s House.