Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(Siaka Stevens St)
Built around 1820, St John's Maroon Church is a squat white building with
big windows. An example of the area's Krio architecture, it was built by returned slaves
from Jamaica. It's located two blocks southwest of the Cotton Tree.
Old Boundary Cannons
HISTORIC SITE
Over at the junction of Kissy Road - known locally as Up Gun communit y - you can see
one of the three old boundary cannons that were used to mark the mapped-out limes of
Freetown. It is believed to date back to about 1805.
King's Yard Gate
HISTORIC SITE
(Wallace Johnson St)
The ancestors of nearly all present-day Krios passed through King's Yard
Gate, atop Tower Hill in the strategic military Martello Tower, built in 1805. Here they
awaited resettlement and medical care by the British. Now the site of Connaught Hospital,
this is where the British brought rescued slaves to begin their new lives. Many of these
new arrivals climbed the nearby Old Wharf Steps, sometimes erroneously called the Por-
tuguese Steps.
National Railway Museum
MUSEUM
(Cline St; 9.30am-5pm Mon-Sat)
Visitors to the National Railway Museum are rare, but
the short tour around these restored engines and cars is fairly interesting. You don't have
to be a rail fan to enjoy this Clinetown museum, where there's a surprising collection of
restored locomotives, including one commissioned for the Queen of England in 1961.
Lumley Beach
BEACH
With every patch of beachfront property purchased and many construction projects under-
way, it's not hard to imagine what Lumley Beach will look like in a few years, but for
now development is pretty much limited to a few bamboo and thatch beer-shacks. Life-
guards and beach wardens are on duty and the public toilets and showers are kept clean,
but the beach is not. Lumley Beach is the busiest beach on the peninsula, teeming with
bars and lunch spots. If it's relaxation you're after, better to head out of town to River No
2 or one of the islands.
