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Residents of Mile Gully, Manchester, want the famous ‘Duppy Church’, located about five minutes from the town square, to officially be made into a tourist attraction.

The church was formerly known as the St George’s Anglican Church, and residents say it was abandoned because the congregation was being haunted by ‘duppies’.

The church is now in a state of disrepair, but 77-year-old Justin Allen, a local ‘historian’, insists that if the relevant authorities take control of the property and make into an attraction, then the surrounding communities would have much to gain.

“If tourist a pass, dem might stop, but if you put it up as a tourist attraction, they’ll make it their duty to stop there. And people would benefit well because right now if you drive and pass deh, you have people from the adjoining districts like Mount Zion and Race Course selling right there. They sell food, provisions and even a cook soup pan Sunday. Suh yuh see people wudda get more customers,” he said.

Allen also pointed out that along with the haunted tales, the ‘church in the wildwood’, also possesses hidden treasures.

“If you one a pass deh, even if you drive, you sorta scared. As you reach deh, the fear come on pan you because lots of people bury down there, lots of rich guys weh usually own dem big property in the community. Right now, if you go down there, there’s a lot of marble on the wall, and all some tomb down there partially broken down and you can look into them and see lots of marble in there,” he said.

He added: “The political representatives here need to bring it into the tourist industry and give it the attention and fixing-up it needs,” he said.