Mandeville, Jamaica

Mandeville 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 (10 miles) the total population is about 72,000. It is located on an inland plateau at an altitude of 628 m (2061 feet), and is 103 km (64 miles) 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. The grassy square is somewhat like a village green and Mandeville has been described as the most English town in Jamaica.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 suburbs and surrounding villages include Ingleside, Battersea, Knockpatrick, Clover, Waltham, Bloomfield, Caledonia Meadows, Brumalia, Spur Tree, Kingsland, French Park, Swabys Hope, Lincoln, Greenvale and Marshalls Pen.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.Mandeville is the chief town of Manchester parish, Jamaica's mountain resort the island's largest hill town and the fifth largest urban center. Only 64 miles away from Kingston, Mandeville has a charm-and a climate-all of its own, as if it has been sheltered against all developments in the capital.