Napoleon

St Helena is probably best known for being the island to which Napoleon was exiled after Waterloo and, although I now know that this island has so much more to offer, today was to be largely all things Napoleon.

There are three main sites of interest on the island: Briars Pavilion, the room (literally) where he stayed on arrival, just outside Jamestown; Longwood House, a larger residence deeper in the island but which was not ready when he arrived in 1815; and his tomb where he was buried after his death in 1821, six years later.

We first visited the pavilion, a small colonial structure set in the gardens of the house of an English merchant, Williams Balcombe. Although it consisted of one room it seems Napoleon was very happy here; he got on well with the family, particularly the French speaking young daughter who acted as translator. The French Consul, who manages the sites, told us that Briars still stirs up passions amongst some of his countrymen even now: neither supporters nor detractors of Napoleon can conceive of him having been happy here while in exile, although for different reasons, and we were told that the joint tickets for all three sites were ceased because some French simply refused to visit Briars.

Napoleon's Room

Next was Longwood house. This is set deeper in the island; it seems Napoleon’s personable nature was seen as a real risk to maintaining security. Here he was further from the general population and escape would be more difficult. A single story building, it was originally a farm owned by the East India Company then the Deputy Governor's summer residence before being converted for use by Napoleon. He was moved here in December 1815 just under two months after his arrival.

Longwood has small but well appointed rooms that include a dining room and library. It was hardly a prison but its location and build made some parts unbearably hot in summer and draughty in winter. Napoleon was not happy here although he had the freedom to entertain those French supporters who voluntarily joined him in exile and to explore the island, within limitations. The unsuitability of the accommodation was recognised by the British who had always planned for an alternative house to be built nearby. Despite not liking Longwood, Napoleon had said he would refuse to live in the new house (although privately, having seen it being built, he was thought to like it) and his death in 1821 meant he never would. That house was knocked down just after the Second World War, a fate narrowly avoided by Longwood itself.

Finally we visited Napoleon’s tomb. It is in a peaceful and beautiful setting, alone in a small valley in woods, away from roads and buildings and reached by a long descending grassy track. The location was chosen by Napoleon himself: it was a place he enjoyed visiting and close to the spring from where Longwood drew its water. The concrete plinth (his body was removed to Paris in 1840) sits on a small patch of grass, overlooked by trees and banana palms, the blue of morning glory and the red of nasturtiums providing colour even in the southern hemisphere autumn. Unlike the isolated Boer graves, this remote location seemed to give a sense of gravity and importance rather than of separation and a feeling of being out of the way.

The threat of Napoleon escaping was very real, despite the challenges posed by St Helena's remoteness and fortifications. At least two plots were uncovered off island in their early stages and I was also told that Napoleon disappeared for a couple of days, being discovered quite close to the coast, something which clearly raised concerns and led to his freedom to roam the island becoming more limited. The Governor responsible for Napoleon's security, Sir Hudson Lowe, was determined that there would be no repeat of Elba and put quite trivial restrictions upon him. Even Wellington suggested that the security in place was excessive given Napoleon’s situation. Something more like house arrest than exile seems to speak of a paranoia on behalf of Lowe rather than real threat; he even sent the Balcombe family off the island because he thought they were too friendly with Napoleon.

There was one final visit for the day, a small hill known as Halley's Mount. Halley of comet fame was another visitor to these shores in the 1670s, coming here to map the stars of the southern hemisphere. St Helena was a good location, being a safe British protectorate and close enough to the northern hemisphere to allow contiguous mapping. However, like today with the hill enveloped in cloud, the weather often prevented work. So we headed off from the remains of his observatory to join half of Jamestown on the quayside with its Friday night pop up bars, pizza establishments and sunset.