A small rock in the Atlantic: San Jose Manor House, R.I.P.

San Jose has a ruined manor house, dating from something like the C16th. I don't know the building's history, but the island has lots of old manor houses left from the days when sugar cane made the island was rich. I've always dreamed of one day being filthy rich enough to buy it and restore it, because it must have been gorgeous once. It's no bigger than my modern house, but it had carved balconies and wooden ceilings.

For some time it's been empty and far too dilapidated to live in. I heard that the owners couldn't get planning permission to fix it, so it slowly decayed while they argued with the bureaucrats. I found that rather sad.

And this evening it caught fire. The roof beams were tea - resin-filled heartwood from the Canary Pine. It doesn't catch fire easily, but once it gets going, there's no stopping it. It also burns with a distinctive smell, clearly noticable even from my house at the other end of the village.

So I imagine that's pretty much the end of that. I can't see anyone restoring it now. So that's a bit more of the village's heritage gone.