Dieppe Bay Town is a town in Saint John Capisterre Parish in the island of

Saint Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

, in the country of

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

History

The first settlement was founded in 1538, when a group of French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

refugees, that came from

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

, a

normand Normand is the French name for the Norman language and people from Normandy. It is also a surname and masculine given name. "Normand" = The French surname describes those families in and originating from Normandy. The "d" was retained by immigrate ...

fishing port, safed haven on

island.''Memory and Identity: The Huguenots in France and the Atlantic Diaspora'', Bertrand Van Ruymbeke & Randy J. Sparks, Published 2003 Univ of South Carolina Press, It is the oldest town founded by

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common ancestry, language, faith, historical continuity, etc. There are ...

in the whole of the

Eastern Caribbean The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS; French: ''Organisation des États de la Caraïbe orientale'', OECO) is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal ...

. The original town only survived a few weeks before it was destroyed by the Spanish, but it was re-founded in 1625 by French settlers led by

Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc Pierre Belain, sieur d'Esnambuc (; 1585–1636) was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean, who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Biography Youth Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc w ...

. Dieppe Bay Town is the co-capital of St. John Capisterre Parish along with Saddlers. Originally the northern part of the parish was ruled by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, in the region of "

Capisterre Capisterre (a corruption of the original French name Capesterre) is a region covering the Northern Coastal plain on the Island of Saint Kitts. It was originally colonized by the French in the early 17th century, with its capital on the only har ...

de St. Christophe", of which Dieppe was the capital. The southern part of the parish was ruled by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, in "British Saint Christopher", which had its parish capital in Saddlers. When Britain took full control of the island in 1713, both capitals remained. Dieppe Bay coastline

The town was once home to a busy port, situated along the harbour at Dieppe. The harbour was renowned on the island due to the large

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

formations offshore which gave it strong protection against the heavy waves which tended to prevent

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

coast development elsewhere. The port however, saw its functions cease after all business was shifted to

Basseterre Basseterre (; Saint Kitts Creole: ''Basterre'') is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Saint Kitts and Nevis with an estimated population of 14,000 in 2018. Geographically, the Basseterre port is located at , on the south-wester ...

after Basseterre was made the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of St. Kitts in 1723. Dieppe Bay is currently a very small settlement with a very small population, however its historical significance to St. Kitts, and its former status as capital of the Capisterre region has allowed it to earn the status of "town". It is the fifth town of Saint Kitts after Basseterre, Sandy Point, Cayon, and

Old Road Old Road may refer to: * Old Road, Antigua and Barbuda, a town on Antigua island, Antigua and Barbuda * Old Road, Oxford, a road in Oxford and Oxfordshire, England * The Old Road, an alternative name for U.S. Route 99, United States * Old Road ...

. Its current population is estimated at 592 persons and it is ranked 20th in population of all settlements in Saint Kitts and Nevis. Many of the inhabitants are ethnically French and are descended from fishermen who migrated from St. Barts. They were attracted to the area by the reef.

References

Populated places in Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts (island) Populated places established in 1538 1625 establishments in the French colonial empire 1625 establishments in North America 1620s in the Caribbean {{SaintKittsNevis-geo-stub

History

See also

References