The Rose Hall Great House is a grand estate built in the late 18th century in Montego Bay, Jamaica. One of the area’s most popular historic attractions, the Georgian mansion is the centerpiece of a 650-acre (263-hectare) plantation that is most notable for its famous occupant, Annie Palmer—better known as the White Witch of Rose Hall.
The greatest of Jamaican great houses sits high on a hill with views of Montego Bay and beyond, serving as a testament to the wealth, pomp, and grandeur of plantation-era Jamaica. Learn about Rose Hall’s slave history while taking in its antique splendor and original fittings, originally built by owner John Palmer and restored in the 1960s.
While daytime tours of Rose Hall Plantation focus on plantation history and historic insight into Jamaica’s era of slavery, night tours recount eerie tales and chilling stories involving murder, ghost sightings, and countless lovers. Said to have dabbled in black magic, Annie Palmer allegedly poisoned three husbands while living there, and her activities are the crux of the haunted night tour.
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Wear comfortable shoes, as plantation tours involve lots of walking and stairs.
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Children under 4 years old enter free of charge; kids aged 4 to 11 years old get half-price admission.
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No photos or videos are allowed inside the house.
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Tours are not accessible to wheelchairs or strollers.
Rose Hall Great House is located off the A1 on Rose Hall Road. Some tours include transportation from downtown Montego Bay; if you’re driving, you can park on the property.
The plantation is open during the day for tours from 9am to 5pm. Great House night tours focusing on Annie Palmer take place after 6:30pm.
Stories allege that, after the murder of her three husbands, Annie Palmer routinely took slave lovers and had them killed when she grew tired of them. Allegedly a vengeful slave smothered her to death with a pillow in her bed in the 1830s. Musician Johnny Cash recorded a song about the legend, “The Ballad of Annie Palmer.” If you need to steady your nerves and quell your goose bumps after a candlelit night tour, the on-site Annie’s Pub serves up the famous rum cocktail Witches’ Brew.
