Arnos Vale, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines


Arnos Vale is a town and former agricultural estate in southern Saint Vincent, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is centred southeast of the capital, Kingstown. The country's former main airport, E. T. Joshua Airport occupied part of the area. The area is mainly green and has a coastline to the south. As to the traditional parishes of the island, determining the local forerunner church and present local body, it lies in the parish of Saint George, which contains the capital and about half of the island's population. It is one of five parishes on the main island.
The town hosts a 18,000-seat cricket and football stadium at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Relocation of airport to Argyle has led government to indicate willingness to transform the town into a small city.

History

During the mid-nineteenth century, following the fall-out of the abolition of slavery in St Vincent and the reduction in value and investment in estates, the British parliament passed a series of Acts - the West Indian Incumbered Estates Acts - to provide clear title to estates and to enable their comprehensive re-planning if the new owners, whether local or abroad, so desired without fear of hindrance from objections from either side of the Atlantic, such as adjoining owners or those with interests in historic trusts. The then- estate was sold on 1 November 1858, four years after the first such Act and was the first estate to be subjected to the clear title mechanism which the series of Acts created.
The buyer was F. R. Braithwaite of Saint Vincent for £10,050, a sum that Reginald Cust, commissioner and historian of the legislation, noted was much higher than expected.