HISTORY OF SANTA MARGARITA

Part 1) THE BRITISH CONNECTION      Part 2) THE ANGLICAN CHURCH

Part 3) THE BUILDING                               Part 4) OUR PATRON SAINT


THE BRITISH CONNECTION

The history of the British in Menorca goes back to the early eighteenth century, when a British force, led by Lord Stanhope and sent to interfere with the War of the Spanish Succession, daringly sailed from mainland Spain and captured the island of Menorca almost unopposed. Menorca, with its incomparable harbour, was invaluable to a maritime nation, and the first British occupation lasted until 1756, when a French army, led by the Duke de Richelieu (whose chef it was made the original sauce Mahonnaise) overcame the Castle of San Felipe and occupied Menorca in their turn. It was after this British defeat that Admiral Byng was tried and shot 'pour encourager les autres'.

There were two further British occupations during the years 1763-1781 and 1798-1802, neither of which were quite so felicitous as the first, which had brought considerable prosperity to the island. In 1802, Menorca was finally returned to Spain.

There was certainly an Anglican church in the little town which sprang up beside the Fortress of San Felipe during the first occupation. The town itself proved such a hazard to the castle during the time of siege, however - the French besiegers actually siting their cannon in the gardens of the English Officers - that it was eventually abandoned and Es Castell, the known as Georgetown (in compliment to King George the third) was built on its present site in the 1770's.