Oistins (Pronounced /'ȯis-tins/ --

UN/LOCODE UN/LOCODE, the United Nations Code for Trade and Transport Locations, is a geographic coding scheme developed and maintained by United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). UN/LOCODE assigns codes to locations used in trade and transpor ...

: BB OST), is a coastal area located in the country of

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...

. It is situated centrally along the coastline of the parish of Christ Church. The area includes a fishing village as well as a tourist area with a variety of bars, rum shops, and shopping arcades.

Etymology

It has been thought that the name "Oistins" is a corruption of "Austin's". Austin was an early landowner in this area, described by Richard Ligon, one of the first historians of Barbados, as "a wild, mad, drunken fellow whose lewd and extravagant carriage made him infamous in the island". The name Oistin is known from the annals of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and Highlands of Scotland history. It is probably a Gaelification of the Norse name Thorstein. The name Oistin is still used in Ireland today.

History

In a historical context, Oistins was known for being the location of the ''Treaty of Oistins'' Barbados charter, thought to have been signed at the site of the Mermaid's Inn, on 17 January 1652. The treaty was to bring a formal end to fighting between colonial settlers of Barbados and the English Commonwealth over Barbados's right to trade with Spanish controlled Netherlands among other demands. Afterwards Oistins became the location of the Anglican parish church of Christ Church, the former Christ Church district hospital, and the former Barbados Coast Guard submarine station. In close proximity, many workers of

Gerald Bull Gerald Vincent Bull (March 9, 1928 – March 22, 1990) was a Canadian engineer who developed long-range artillery. He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he des ...

Project HARP Project HARP, short for High Altitude Research Project, was a joint venture of the United States Department of Defense and Canada's Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles and collecting ...

lived around Oistins and the nearby airport.

Tourism

A tradition has developed towards the end of the 20th century for tourists in Oistins to join with locals at the Friday night (and slightly quieter Saturday night) Fish Fry and "lime" (social gathering), which sees many food and drink stalls selling fried fish meals and local craft, all to the accompaniment of loud music, while older inhabitants practise more traditional 'old time' dancing. The area is fairly close to many of the south coast hotels in Barbados and has several beaches, for example

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

Plane spotting

The beach at Oistins is situated on the usual flight path of many aircraft landing at the

Grantley Adams International Airport Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) is the international airport of Barbados, located in Seawell, Christ Church. It is the only designated port of entry for persons arriving and departing by air in Barbados and operates as one of th ...

and is therefore a popular

aircraft spotting Aircraft spotting, or plane spotting is a hobby of tracking the movement of aircraft, which is often accomplished by photography. Besides monitoring aircraft, plane spotting enthusiasts (who are usually called plane spotters) also record informa ...

location. The area also acts as a small port with offshore landing for ships delivering fossils fuels to the island.

Automated Manifest System Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

Seaport Code A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...

: 27210.

References

External links

Oistins in line for facelift
March 7th, 2006 - Populated places in Barbados Christ Church, Barbados {{Barbados-geo-stub