Holland Estate Ruins

Holland Estate, formerly known as Moro Pen, was established in 1768 and renamed in 1771 by planter Simon Taylor after purchasing the property for £100,000 sterling. In his tenure of ownership, it had become one of Jamaica’s most prominent sugar plantations, spanning over 3,500 acres and a workforce of 600 enslaved Africans at its peak. The estate featured a six-bedroom great house, an overseer’s house, a bookkeeper’s cottage, extensive sugar works, and a watermill.

It was later further developed to include a hospital for enslaved Africans, barracks, and homes for the enslaved that were built near the Plantain Garden River, and the homes for the enslaved, which were later moved closer to the shore. By 1820, the estate had been producing over 500 hogsheads of sugar and 250 puncheons of rum.

It is important to note that the estate was damaged by the 1865 Morant Bay Rebellion. Though it is now in ruins and heavily covered in vegetation, many of its significant features remain visible.

Currently, the site is now home to a wildlife conservation area for crocodiles.