Estreito de Câmara de Lobos (parish)

There are good grounds for believing that, outside Funchal, Câmara de Lobos (‘seals’ den’) was one of the first places where the land was settled and cultivated, and that a sizeable population centre formed there from the outset. Before long this clearing of uncultivated land would have spread and extended up to the heights of the present parish (freguesia) of Estreito, at least in its southern part and in the areas that border the parish of Câmara de Lobos.

As to the origin of the name of the parish of Estreito, we can only refer to what we have already set out in the article devoted to the parish of Estreito da Calheta (‘the narrows of Calheta’), since we can add nothing, and know nothing further, to what is said there on this point. Referring to this parish in the last quarter of the 16th century, Gaspar Frutuoso says: ‘Above it (the Convent of São Bernardino (St Bernardino of Siena)) lie the orchards of Estreito, which have many chestnuts and walnuts, and very sweet apples of every kind, and wines and livestock, and a parish called Estreito, of up to thirty households (fogos, literally ‘hearths’)...’

We do not know the date of the decree that established this parish, but we know that its creation goes back to the first years of the 16th century, the annotator of the Saudades assigning it to the year 1509. We believe that it had previously been the seat of a curacy (curato) in the chapel of Our Lady of Grace (Nossa Senhora da Graça), which stood there and was later turned into the parish church. Dr Álvaro de Azevedo states that three deeds drawn up in the old notary’s office of Câmara de Lobos show that in 1539 Father Sebastião Vaz was vicar of Estreito.

The oldest decree we have found cited concerning this parish is that of 20 January 1572, which granted Father Gonçalo de Aguiar, the parish priest at the time, an increase of 9,300 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) on the stipend (côngrua) he had previously received. The royal decrees (alvará) of 18 January 1582 and 15 November 1591 increased and restructured the annual salary of the vicar, which became 16,000 réis in cash, one and a half pipas (wine cask and measure, c. 400–500 litres) of wine and one and a half moios (dry measure of grain, 60 alqueires) of wheat.

The royal decree of Peter II of 28 December 1676 abolished one of the posts of beneficed cleric (beneficiado) in the collegiate church of Câmara de Lobos, applying its stipend to the curacy of Estreito, which the same royal decree created. Another royal decree, of 9 May 1688, set the annual salary of the assistant priest (coadjutor) at 120,000 réis in cash, one moio of wheat and one pipa of wine.

We do not know when the chapel of Our Lady of Grace was built. It gave its name to the new parish (freguesia), and the parish seat was established in it. The small church underwent major repairs at roughly the time the parish was created, and important works were also carried out there in the last quarter of the 17th century. We know of the following instruments, which we found noted in the General Index of the register of the former Royal Treasury Office (Provedoria da Real Fazenda): an order of the Council of the Treasury (Conselho da Fazenda), dated 23 September 1692, for the work on the new church, bought at auction by Francisco Rodrigues for 811,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis); an order of the same Council, dated 5 March 1748, for the building of the church, and for 194,000 réis to pay for one alqueire (dry measure for grain; as a land measure c. 900 m²) and half a quarta of the land needed for the said work, and for 551,662 réis for the vicar’s house, which was to be pulled down for the same purpose; and an order of 15 February 1764 for the work on the high altar to be awarded at auction to the master woodcarver Julião Francisco, for 2,000 réis. Beyond what the documents cited say, we were able to establish from a reliable source that around the middle of the 18th century the old church was demolished, leaving the chancel standing, which went on serving as the parish church for some years. On 3 February 1753 the foundation stone of the new church was laid and blessed. On 18 January 1756 the chancel was blessed and the Blessed Sacrament was carried into it, after which the rest of the building work continued. This church was consecrated in 1814 by the diocesan prelate Dom Joaquim de Meneses e Ataíde.

It was in this church that, a few years later, on 6 November 1829, a great sacrilege took place, which we have already described at greater length elsewhere in this Elucidário. On this case, which seems to have caused a great sensation, a pamphlet of 13 pages was published, which the Diccionario Bibliographico Português cites under the following title: Sentença da Relação de Lisboa contra Jacinto Fernandes e mais septe reos, culpados do roubo e desacato na egreja da Graça do Funchal. Morreram seis enforcados e o ultimo foi degolado. (Dated 6 March 1830). Printed in Lisbon by the Typ. de J. B. Morando.

Among the earliest priests who performed parish duties in this parish we can cite the names of Fathers Sebastião Vaz (1539), Gonçalo de Aguiar (1563), Sebastião Gonçalves (1586), João Gonçalves Evangelho (1607), Matias Lopes (1620), Manuel Lopes (1631) and Luís Gonçalves Velho (1643).

The parish has the chapels of Nossa Senhora da Incarnação (Our Lady of the Incarnation), Our Lady of Consolation (Nossa Senhora da Consolação), Santo António and Our Lady of Good Success (Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso), which we shall discuss at greater length in the articles devoted to chapels. In the locality (sítio) of Ribeira da Fazenda (‘farm stream’) there was once the chapel of Sant’Ana.

The principal localities are: Vizinhanças da Igreja, Caminho do Concelho para a Ribeira da Caixa, Pico e Salões, Caminho do Concelho para a Ribeira da Fernanda, Vargem, Barreiros, Covão e Panasqueira, Castelejo, Fajã das Galinhas, Quinta de Santo António, Romeiras, Foro, Fonte do Frade e Cruz dos Pomares, Serra, Cabo do Podão, Marco e Fonte da Pedra, Fontes, Casa Caída, Marinheira, Pomar do Meio, Garachico, Furneira and Jardim da Serra. We shall deal with this last locality, and with the house and grave of H. Veitch that are found there, in a separate article (see Jardim da Serra).

Dr Luís Vicente de Afonseca and João Augusto de Ornelas were natives of this parish (see those entries). The parish has a small straw-hat industry, almost entirely confined to this place, and there is also a butter factory.

The so-called Boca dos Namorados (‘lovers’ pass’) is the most picturesque spot in this parish. It commands vast and astonishing views and is much visited, especially by foreigners.

The neighbouring parishes are Serra de Água and Curral das Freiras to the north, Câmara de Lobos to the south, the Ribeira dos Socorridos to the east, which separates it from Santo António and Curral, and Quinta Grande and Câmara de Lobos to the west.

It has one state school for each sex, and its population is 6,200 inhabitants. On 22 May 1927 a lamentable tragedy occurred in this parish: Father André dos Passos was murdered by a madman as he left the chapel of Our Lady of Good Success, in the locality of Garachico, where he had just celebrated the sacrifice of the Mass. This most grievous event caused the deepest emotion throughout the island, and above all in this parish.