St. Charles’ Church in Freetown, Sierra Leone

After the UK passed the Slave Trade Act of 1807, Freetown in Sierra Leone became a hub for British anti-slavery activity in West Africa. The Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron patrolled the coast, capturing illegal slave-trading ships and bringing them to Freetown for legal proceedings. The captured Africans were not returned to their homelands but were resettled in the colony to make it profitable through agricultural exports. Governor Charles MacCarthy established the "village system," where liberated Africans were settled in villages, including Regent, originally known as Hogbrook. Each village was managed by a missionary from the Church Missionary Society, who aimed to convert the Africans to Christianity. Reverend William Augustine Bernard Johnson arrived in Regent in 1816 and preached from St. Charles' Church, which was completed that year. Johnson was popular, and his magnetism made Regent one of the most successful villages in terms of agricultural output. After Johnson's death in 1823, attendance at St. Charles' Church dropped, but the church has been maintained throughout the centuries. St. Charles' Church is considered one of the oldest stone churches in West Africa, if not Africa, and is still in use today by the people of Regent. The church has been maintained and is still active, with an ongoing congregation.