Mandeville, Jamaica

Mandeville
Mandivl
City
Perth Road, Mandeville in 2012
Perth Road, Mandeville in 2012
CountryJamaica
CountyMiddlesex
ParishManchester
Elevation
628 m (2,061 ft)
Population
 • Estimate 
(2005)
50,000
Time zoneUTC-5 (EST)
Area code876

Mandeville (Jamaican Patois: Mandivl) is the capital and largest town in the parish of Manchester in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. In 2005, the town had an estimated population of 50,000, and including the immediate suburbs within a radius of 16 km (9.9 mi) the total population was about 72,000. It is located on an inland plateau at an altitude of 628 m (2061 feet), and is 103 km (64 mi) west of Kingston. It is the only parish capital of Jamaica not located on the coast or on a major river.

Mandeville has a town square, parish church and clock tower, and many large, elegant early nineteenth-century houses line the winding streets in the town centre.

In the suburbs of the town many large houses have been built by returning residents from North America and the United Kingdom on an ad hoc basis. Developers have complemented these with large housing developments, some of which are constructed as gated communities. Prominent[citation needed] suburbs and surrounding areas include Ingleside, Battersea, Knockpatrick, Clover, Waltham, Bloomfield, Caledonia Meadows, Brumalia, Newport, Spur Tree, Kingsland, French Park, Swabys Hope, Lincoln, Greenvale and Marshalls Pen.[citation needed]

Mandeville is a major commercial centre, and is the location of Northern Caribbean University (formerly West Indies College), a Seventh-day Adventist institution of higher learning.

The mayor of Mandeville in 2012 was Brenda Ramsay.[1]

Panorama of Mandeville viewed looking North from Bloomfield Great House restaurant
  1. ^ "Brenda Ramsay returned as Mandeville mayor". Jamaica Observer. 30 March 2012.