Scotts Head is a village on the southwest coast of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

, in Saint Mark Parish. In 2001, its population was 721. Predominantly a fishing village, Scotts Head overlooks Soufrière Bay, which is protected as the

Soufrière Scotts Head Marine Reserve Soufrière may refer to: Places * Soufrière Estate, Saint Lucia Settlements, jurisdictions, political geography *Soufrière, Dominica, a village on the southwest coast of Dominica in the Caribbean *Petit Soufrière, Dominica, a village on the e ...

. It is also a popular snorkelling and diving site for tourists. The village shares its name with the Caribbean's only

tied island A tied island or land-tied island is a landform consisting of an island that is connected to the mainland or another island only by a tombolo, which is a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends. St Ninian's Isle in the Shetlan ...

, a small peninsula with a rising headland that extends westward from the village at Dominica's southwest tip. The Carib name of the peninsula is ', literally "that which is being eaten (by the sea)"; this is possibly a reference to its location at the convergence of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

to its north and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

to its south. At the top of the peninsula is the Scotts Head Lighthouse, a small lighted navigational aid approximately 5 meters (16.4 ft) tall. Also on the peninsula are the remains of the 18th century military battery,

Fort Cachacrou Fort Cachacrou (also Cashacrou, Cacharou) was a historic military fortification and signal station on the island of Dominica. The fort was built by the British in the 1760s in present-day Scotts Head, Dominica, Scotts Head. During the American Rev ...

. Each year, in June or July, the Scotts Head village holds an annual feast in honour of

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

. The Scotts Head village also is host to Dive Fest, the Caribbean's longest-running diving festival. The festival includes

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

and

freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breat ...

events, as well as food, entertainment, and competitions. Scotts Head is the start of the first segment of the Waitukubuli National Trail, the longest hiking trail in the Caribbean at 115 miles (185 km) long. From Scott's head, hikers can hike 7 km (4.4 miles) to Soufrière Estate in about 4-6 hours. Additionally, Scotts Head is the start of the Waitukubuli Sea Trail, the first sea kayaking trail in the Caribbean.

History

Scotts Head was originally called Cashacrou by the

Kalinago The Kalinago, also called Island Caribs or simply Caribs, are an Indigenous people of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. They may have been related to the Mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, but they spoke an unrelated language know ...

people of Dominica. It was later renamed after Captain George Scott, who had served in the British invasion force that captured Dominica from the French in 1761 and then became lieutenant governor of Dominica from 1764 to 1767. Scott oversaw the construction of Fort Cachacrou on the headland of the Scotts Head peninsula; the bulk of this fortification has collapsed down the cliff into the water, though some ruins remain, including a small cannon. When the French retook Dominica in 1778 (only to hand it back in 1783 as a concession in the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

), the fort at Scotts Head was the first invasion point and the site of the first skirmish. In anticipation of the invasion, French inhabitants of Dominica visited British troops at the fort on 6 September, getting them drunk and then spiking the cannons with sand. French fleets sailed between three and four o'clock on 7 September from

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, the French-controlled island directly to Dominica's south. When the French stormed the fort in the morning, the British were taken by surprise. Once the fort was captured, the French fired a celebration signal, which was the first notice of the invasion the British had in the capital of

Roseau Roseau (Dominican Creole French, Dominican Creole: ''Wozo'') is the capital and largest city of Dominica, with a population of 14,725 as of 2011. It is a small and compact urban settlement, in the Saint George Parish, Dominica, Saint George Pa ...

to the north.

References

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External links

* * {{Authority control , additional=Q106869177 Populated places in Dominica Saint Mark Parish, Dominica Peninsulas of Dominica Tied islands