"Commissioner's House" Sandys Parish Travelogue by grandmaR

The second and fourth pictures are from 1995.

Back to the 2004 overview.

The Commissioner's House in 1995.

The Commisioner's house in the museum is unusual because it was made of cast iron, which I wouldn't think was a good material for a seacoast area.

When we visited Ft. Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas later, we saw that the iron shutters covering the gun ports had rusted. In rusting metal expands and it had broken out the brickwork around the ports at Ft. Jefferson.

One of the reasons for the building being prefabricated in England (I was told) is that the British could be more certain that the local labourers would not 're-design' the building to their own benefit.

Sheep or goats on the Maritime Museum property

Since we did not get to see the Commissioner's house on our previous visit, that was one of the things I wished to see this time around.

This photograph is of one of the batteries from the Commissioner's House. One of the signs on the property cautions about trying to pet the sheep, but these look more like goats to me.

1995 Looking in Musuem Entrance

"As you enter the museum, you see THE COMMISSIONER’S HOUSE which was built as the private quarters and ceremonial residence for the Civilian Commissioner, who was the administrator of the Royal Naval Dockyard at Bermuda".

The Commissioner's house was being restored in 1995 when we were there - the restoration started in 1988 - that's why the scaffolding was on it.

"The office of Commissioners for the naval dockyards was abolished in 1837, at which time the Commissioner’s House became an army barracks.

The Royal Marines Light Infantry, responsible for manning the guns of the Dockyard, occupied the building as a barracks through the First World War. It was also used as a military staff office, married quarters, and in 1919, it was commissioned as HMS Malabar (for security code purposes),.. until its final closure on March 31, 1995. After the Second World War, HMS Malabar was moved to another site and the Commissioner’s House slowly fell into disrepair

Commissioner's house after refurbishment 2004

It is the oldest cast iron building in British military history (it is exceeded in age only by a few buildings in the USA where cast iron buildings were pioneered). It caused a monumental scandal because of its huge cost to British taxpayers

In any case, the website says "All of the cast iron floor and veranda joists, roof truss members and columns for the verandas were prefabricated in England. Sent to Bermuda in sailing ships, they were manhandled into position as construction progressed. The cast iron was complemented by the use of hard Bermuda limestone for the exterior walls, quarried on site in the Dockyard."

"The main building measures one hundred feet to a side. Rising three stories above the ramparts of the Keep, Bermuda’s largest fort and home of the Maritime Museum, the Commissioner’s House is the most conspicuous landmark at the west end of the Island. "

In 2002, according to the website, the following had been accomplished:

"The roof has been entirely reclad, making the building watertight for the first time in several decades. The iron wall-plate of the upper veranda was replaced as it had decayed away; the cast iron fascia attached to it was saved and put back, followed by a new veranda ceiling. "

Real cedar corner cupboard

"In the interior of the Commissioner’s House, electrical supply and plumbing have been installed. There will be a serving kitchen with new washrooms on the west side of the building. Many of the doors and windows have been repaired or replaced, along with a number of the floors. "

Currently, the building has been furnished with various exhibits on the maritime and wartime history of Bermuda . Most of the interior woodwork such as mantlepieces and the furniture is not original to the building.

Bermuda cedar was once found all over the island and was used to make most of the island's furniture like this example of a corner china closet.

Dollhouse with cedar furnishings

This doll house which was in the hall of the Commissioner's House was furnished by Dr. Jack Arbell who whittled pieces of cedar to create minatures of the Queen Anne style (1730-80). He used tiny tools such as a minature lathe and a dentist drill to create the furniture.

Closeup of the dollhouse library

I has been said that his work was so precise that the furniture was no different than life-sized pieces except that the proper joints did not hold them together.

The dollhouse was difficult to photograph without getting reflections in the glass that covers it. This photo is kind of off the top of the one above. It was a beautiful exhibit, but I don't know what it has to do with the commissioner's house. It is not linked in any way with the furnishings or exhibits that are in there now, nor did it say that it was a reproduction of how it would have been furnished in the past.