Santo António da Serra (parish)

The parish (freguesia) of Santo António da Serra (‘St Anthony of the uplands’), or Santo da Serra (‘the saint of the uplands’) as it is more commonly known, lies largely on a plateau overlooking the parishes of Santa Cruz (‘Holy Cross’) and Machico, at an average altitude of 700 metres above sea level. It is considered one of the most beautiful and enchanting resorts on this island. Although its winter season brings frequent rain and wind and marked drops in temperature, it is much sought after in the hot season for the freshness and mildness of its climate, together with the striking beauty of its admirable landscape. There are some excellent country houses there, where several families, especially from Santa Cruz and Machico, usually spend the hottest months of the year. In former times it was much visited by the English, who built several quintas here that still exist.

Like every part of the interior of Madeira, and particularly because of its climate and the dense mass of its woodland, Santo da Serra was not subject to any farming or attempt at colonisation in the earliest days of the settlement of our island. It is conjectured that land clearing began only in the first quarter of the 16th century, on the plateau where the parish church now stands or in its immediate surroundings. It is also supposed that at that time there were still no inhabitants with a fixed residence there.

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Gil de Carvalho,’ says Father Fernando Augusto de Pontes, ‘originally built two chapels there. The first he never finished, at Alcoforado, the locality where he lived, which still bears the name Ermida (‘hermitage’). The second occupies the parish seat of this village.’ The same priest states, in his book Excursões, that Gil de Carvalho died in Santa Cruz in 1541, which would place the building of the chapels at an earlier date, for we are of the opinion that this construction would not have predated the last quarter of the 16th century. The one that was turned into the parish church already existed in 1612, since a royal decree (alvará régio) of 3 September of that year ordered the sum of 70,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) to be applied to the purchase of an altarpiece for that chapel. It may be supposed that by this time a population centre of some importance already existed there. This chapel had its own chaplain, and in 1790 he was permitted to administer the last sacraments in sudden cases.

The illustrious annotator of the Saudades writes: ‘The parish (freguesia) of Santo da Serra was originally an old chapel subordinate to the vicar of Machico. Because he and the vicars of Santa Cruz and Água de Pena fiercely disputed possession of this chapel, Bishop Dom Friar Lourenço de Távora took it under his protection in 1612 and probably made it a curacy (curato). As time went on these disputes over jurisdiction continued, and later the same struggles broke out again over the boundaries of the municipalities of Santa Cruz and Machico. It was certainly from that period, that is, in the first quarter of the 17th century, that the chapel of Santo António da Serra came under the direct jurisdiction of the bishop, and that this prelate took under emphyteutic lease (aforamento, perpetual lease for an annual quit-rent) the lands surrounding the chapel, which were always regarded as belonging to the mitre of Funchal. By special concession of the diocesan bishops, these lands were later made available to the parish priests as part of their glebe (passal). The curacy, however, was only created in 1813. It was made up of the localities (sítios) of Preces, Ermida, Margaça and Madeira da Igreja, belonging to the parish of Machico; the localities of Mouro, Ameixieiras, João Ferino, Curral Velho, Ribeiro de João Gonçalves and Madre de Água, in the parish of Santa Cruz; and the locality of Achada do Barro (‘clay plateau’), in the parish of Água de Pena.’

While staying at Santo da Serra, the vicar capitular (administrator of the vacant diocese elected by the chapter) and governor of the diocese (governador do bispado, administering the see in the bishop’s absence) António Alfredo de Santa Catarina Braga issued from there a warrant (provisão), dated 13 June 1836, abolishing the parish of Água de Pena and creating that of Santo – or rather, annexing the former to the curacy of Santo da Serra and making the latter the seat of the new parish, under the name of the parish of Santo da Serra e Água de Pena. The new parish did not last long, for the royal letter (carta régia) of 24 July 1848 restored the old parish of Água de Pena, which then lost the locality of Achada do Barro, incorporated into Santo da Serra. This place, which had been a curacy dependent on Machico, became an autonomous parish from 1848.

Various disagreements, lasting many years, arose between the municipal councils of Santa Cruz and Machico over the boundaries of their respective municipalities, each seeking to bring a considerable part of Santo da Serra under its own jurisdiction. These struggles ended in 1862, as already mentioned on page 299 of volume II, to which we refer the reader in order to avoid needless repetition.

The original chapel, which housed the seat of the curacy (curato) and the parish, must have been built towards the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the 17th. In 1612, as we have seen, it was granted the sum of 70,000 réis (old Portuguese money of account; 1$000 = 1,000 réis, 1:000$000 = one conto = 1,000,000 réis) for the making of its altarpiece. It no doubt underwent various repairs and may even have been enlarged, until around the middle of the 19th century it was completely rebuilt to the proportions it keeps today. In 1851 the government had the chancel and part of the parish house rebuilt, at a cost of about four contos (one million réis) de réis. The American consul João Howard March (volume II, page 339) built the body of the church and the walls surrounding the spacious churchyard at his own expense. He was commended by a ministerial order (portaria) of 3 July 1855 for the outstanding services he had rendered to this parish, and especially for building the church.

The solemn blessing of the new church took place on 23 August 1857 in the presence of the diocesan prelate, Dom Manuel Martins Manso. On that occasion the distinguished preacher Canon Francisco João de Freitas Ferraz delivered a notable sermon.

Opposite the parish residence, some British subjects had a house built to shelter those who came from distant parishes on pilgrimage to the small shrine dedicated to St Anthony, which was then a chapel of cramped dimensions. The house, built around 1808, was not small and had a certain architectural display. For some years it was managed by some English merchants, who saw to its upkeep and cleanliness, but it was later abandoned and within a few years was reduced to a shapeless heap of ruins. The neglect to which the house was left, and its rapid collapse, are owed to the public works department of this district, which had charge of the building, and also to some people of this parish.

In the article devoted to Dom Luís Rodrigues de Vilares, bishop of this diocese, we have already mentioned that this prelate lived for some months in this parish, serving a sentence of banishment imposed on him by the governor and captain-general Dom José Manuel da Câmara (see volume III, page 216).

This was one of the parishes in which the Protestant proselytism begun and carried on by Dr Robert Kalley (volume II, page 208) put down the deepest roots and brought the greatest disturbance into the midst of Madeira’s peaceful population. Public order was disturbed here in 1844. Many arrests were made, inquiries and investigations were held in the seats of the municipalities of Santa Cruz and Machico, and various proceedings were brought against the rioters and some apostles of the new doctrines. The propagandists have not forgotten the original Calvinist evangelisation and have kept up their proselytising to the present day, though without appreciable results. It was Dr Kalley himself who, in this parish, at the quinta (country estate) of Serrado das Ameixieiras (‘plum-tree field’), led a large number of people to follow Calvinist ideas through his rare and overwhelming eloquence. We have already referred above to the striking landscape of this parish and the captivating panoramas to be enjoyed there, above all at the localities of Lamaceiros, Portela and Macelas. Father Fernando de Pontes, already cited, says: ‘At Portela, the parish of Porto da Cruz (‘harbour of the cross’) lies at the spectator’s feet. At Lamaceiros there is not only the view of Porto da Cruz and Penha de Águia (‘eagle crag’), but also part of Faial and Santana, wrapped in the luxuriance of an opulent vegetation. At Macelas, there are the green-clad heights of the hills to the north, an immense expanse of verdure and countless cottages beneath one’s eyes; in the centre a stream winding and slipping away like ribbons of silver; down below, the gleaming white of many houses beside a church; further on, the wave breaking against the cliff; beyond, the sombre majesty of the cliffs of São Lourenço (‘St Lawrence’) gazing at themselves in the sleeping waters, and the vastness of the ocean at the end...’.

What the Annais do Porto Santo tell us about the establishment of a settlement in the parish (freguesia) of Santo da Serra, made up of inhabitants of that island, cannot pass without special mention. This interesting episode is related in the former Heraldo da Madeira in the following terms: ‘Maria I, moved to pity by the successive crises through which Porto Santo was passing, where hunger knocked at the doors of the less well-off despite the measures taken by the Marquis of Pombal, resolved to have some of these destitute people transported to Santo António da Serra. She provided them with everything they needed, spending much of her generosity, and 50,000 cruzados of public funds, on building a number of homesteads, which were distributed free of charge.

By royal decree (alvará) of 18 December 1768 Santo António da Serra came to be called the Aldeia da Rainha (the Queen’s Village), and Machico lost the lands north of the chapel, which were annexed to the new settlement.

The elements from which it was formed, however, were not such as could be consolidated on such auspicious foundations. With no aptitude for farming and an aversion to work, the emigrants from Porto Santo, beset by the winter cold and deep homesickness, gradually returned to their old homes, until in 1783 they abandoned the village altogether.

Poor administration and a lack of care for the property of the State have always been among the causes of our decline. There are disputes and quarrels over everything, on which rivers of money are spent.

The municipalities of Machico and Santa Cruz both wanted a say in the village. They went to law at length, and the former won when the village had all but ceased to exist.’

The principal localities of this parish are Ermida, Margaça, Madeira da Igreja, Fajã dos Rolos, Ribeira de Machico, Lombo das Faias, Fajã das Vacas, Lombo das Raizes, Casais Proximos, Achada do Barro, Poiso, Madre de Água, Serrado das Ameixieiras, Ribeira de João Gonçalves, Terra de Braga, João Ferino and Curral Velho. It has 2,130 inhabitants (1921).