Left in Trust for an Anglican College in 1710, Now Being Sold to the Descendants: Inside Barbados’ $18 Million Codrington Plan

• The Codrington Trust holds lands left to found an Anglican theological college, in trust since 1745
• It has an $18 million, 15-year reparations programme funded from the UK
• 25 residents received property conveyances in the past year; the target is for all to be landowners by 2028
• Tenants want more say, clearer surveys and better communication about leases

Residents of College Land in St John, Barbados, are pressing for a bigger voice in an $18 million reparations programme run by the Codrington Trust, Barbados Today reported in July 2026. Members of the Codrington Estate Tenants and Farmers Union, many of them descendants of people who worked the estate in the plantation era, met at Codrington College to raise their concerns.

The land has a long church history. Christopher Codrington, who lived from 1668 to 1710, left his estates to establish an Anglican theological college, and the lands, stretching from Society to Consett Bay, have been held in trust since 1745. The current programme, spread over 15 years, is funded through the UK-based Anglican mission agency USPG.

Historian Kevin Farmer, the trust’s executive secretary, set out five pillars: genealogy research, honouring burial grounds, examining the estate’s historical finances, expanding land ownership and reassessing theological teaching. He was candid about the scale of the money. “From the beginning, we acknowledged that the $18 million over the 15-year period was simply not enough,” he said.

On land, the trust reported that 25 residents had received property conveyances over the past year, with the goal of making all residents landowners by 2028. Residents were also told about property tax exemptions for properties valued below $150,000. An entrepreneurship workshop has drawn more than 20 participants, and scholarships have been announced. Residents still questioned whether the programme goes beyond rights they already have in law, and asked for more transparency about the USPG funding, clearer land surveys, better communication about leases and access to historic grounds.

For Jamaican readers, the Codrington story is a close parallel to questions about church land at home. Large church estates across the Caribbean were built on plantation wealth, and many families have lived and farmed on them for generations without a title. Converting long-term tenants into owners, with surveys, conveyances and tax relief, is the practical side of reparative justice. Those who track church land in Jamaica should watch whether the 2028 target is met, how plots are priced and surveyed, and whether owning land really leads to wealth for the families who get titles.

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