# Shirley Castle Community, Swift River, Portland Parish

> Source: https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/swift-river/shirley-castle/

Community · Swift River 

# Shirley Castle

Shirley Castle is a community of Jamaica in Swift River, Portland Parish. It covers **37.4 km²**. 19 named villages and localities are recorded here.

- 37.4km²
- 269 mtypical elevation

## Where is Shirley Castle?

Shirley Castle lies in [Swift River](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/swift-river/), [Portland Parish](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/), [Jamaica](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/). It borders 6 other communities: [Claverty Cottage](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/spanish-river/claverty-cottage/), [Fruitfulvale](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/swift-river/fruitfulvale/), [Hagley Gap](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/saint-thomas/trinityville/hagley-gap/), [Mavis Bank](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/saint-andrew/papine/mavis-bank/), [Skibo/Chepstowe](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/spanish-river/skibo-chepstowe/) and [Swift River](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/swift-river/swift-river/). By area it is the 48th largest of 775 communities in Jamaica. It covers 27.1% of [Swift River](https://wherepedia.org/jamaica/portland/swift-river/). The centre of Shirley Castle is about 23 km in a straight line from Kingston, the capital. The centre point is at 18.1201° N, 76.6149° W.

Source: [Jamaica Social Development Commission (sdc.gov.jm) via OCHA HDX, administrative boundaries (COD-AB, CC BY-IGO)](https://data.humdata.org/dataset/cod-ab-jam).

## Things to see in and around Shirley Castle

OpenStreetMap lists 3 named sights in Shirley Castle: 2 waterfalls; 1 national park.

- Big Dunn Falls · waterfall
- High Fall · waterfall
- Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park · national park

### Nearby, outside Shirley Castle

- Great Cascade · waterfall, Fruitfulvale4.7 km
- Toki Cave · cave, Fruitfulvale6.6 km
- Marston Spring Falls · waterfall, Bybrook6.9 km
- Jacob's Ladder · attraction, Hagley Gap7.7 km
- Bremen Valley · attraction, Bangor Ridge7.7 km
- John Crow Gully Hole · cave, Orange Bay7.9 km
- Bybrook Valley · attraction, Bybrook8.0 km
- Clermont Cave · cave, Orange Bay8.1 km
- River Head Cave · cave, Orange Bay8.1 km
- Whitefield Hall Waterfall · waterfall, Hagley Gap8.2 km
- Leighfield Wood Cave · cave, Bangor Ridge8.3 km
- Spring Garden Cave · cave, Skibo/Chepstowe8.4 km

Source: [© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract — named settlements](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).

Named attractions, museums, viewpoints, historic sites and natural features mapped in OpenStreetMap. Places of worship are not listed.

## Know before you go: Shirley Castle

- Time zoneUTC−5, no daylight saving · America/Jamaica
- CurrencyDollar (JMD)
- Country calling code+1-876
- LanguagesEnglish
- Plug typesType A, B
- Driving sideLeft

### Nearest airports

- Tinson Pen Airport (KTP) · Tinson Pen26 km
- Norman Manley International Airport (KIN) · Kingston27 km

### Nearest railway station

Spanish Town Railway Station (Spanish Town Central), about 39 km from the centre.

### Daylight

Days are longest in Jun (about 13.2 hours, sunrise around 05:30) and shortest in Dec (about 11.1 hours, sunrise around 06:29, sunset around 17:33).

Source: [GeoNames country and time-zone files (CC BY 4.0)](https://www.geonames.org/); [Wikidata (CC0) — plug types, mains voltage, driving side; retrieved 2026-11-02](https://www.wikidata.org/); [OurAirports (public domain)](https://ourairports.com/data/).

Airports with scheduled passenger flights; straight-line distances. Daylight is calculated for the 15th of each month in local standard time. Check entry and visa rules with official government sources before travelling.

## Villages and localities in Shirley Castle

Open gazetteers list **19 villages, towns and localities** in Shirley Castle. Settlements here lie between about 126 m and 644 m above sea level (median 269 m).

- Albany
- Arscott
- Bellevue
- Chancery Hall
- Dunbar
- Fairy Hill
- Grasspiece
- Guatamala
- Industry
- Mahogany Hill
- Mammee Hill
- McKeane
- Melrose
- Mount Hermon
- Mulberry
- Newport
- Peppingford
- Sherbourne
- Shirley Castle

Source: [GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — settlements, natural and historic features](https://www.geonames.org/); [© OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), Geofabrik extract — named settlements](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright).

## Landscape and landmarks of Shirley Castle

Named natural and historic features inside Shirley Castle, from the GeoNames gazetteer.

### Water

2 rivers and streams.

- Daniel Spring
- Heartlead Spring

### Hills and mountains

5 hills; 1 mountain; 1 mountain pass.

- High Peak · 2,069 m
- Pigeon Hill · 948 m
- Recess Gap · 693 m
- Mammee Hill · 463 m
- Liberty Hill · 411 m
- Mount Irving · 397 m
- Masons Hope · 204 m

Source: [GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — settlements, natural and historic features](https://www.geonames.org/).

Places of worship are not listed. Elevations are from the GeoNames terrain model and are approximate.

## Weather in Shirley Castle and the best time to visit

Using the climate of Swift River, the warmest month is Aug (average 28 °C) and the coolest is Jan (26 °C). About 927 mm of rain falls in a year; the wettest month is Oct (170 mm) and the driest Feb (19 mm). The most comfortable months for a visit are **November to July**.

- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec

Month Average °C Rain mm 

Jan 26 33 

Feb 26 19 

Mar 26 29 

Apr 27 41 

May 27 111 

Jun 28 89 

Jul 28 69 

Aug 28 104 

Sep 28 127 

Oct 28 170 

Nov 27 87 

Dec 26 49 

Source: [NASA POWER climatology, retrieved 2026-10-29](https://power.larc.nasa.gov/).

## Nearest hospital, bank and fuel from Shirley Castle

Need Nearest mapped Distance 

Hospital Louis Grant Medical Centre · Papine 17 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.02354&mlon=-76.73919#map=17/18.02354/-76.73919) 

Bank JN Bank · Gordon Town 14 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.03674&mlon=-76.71767#map=17/18.03674/-76.71767) 

ATM Credit Union ABM · Papine 18 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.01933&mlon=-76.74231#map=17/18.01933/-76.74231) 

Petrol pump Texaco · Buff Bay 14 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.23358&mlon=-76.66111#map=17/18.23358/-76.66111) 

Hotel Polish Princess Guest House · Durham 7.7 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.11817&mlon=-76.54243#map=17/18.11817/-76.54243) 

Mall Royal Mall · Central Port Antonio 19 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.18001&mlon=-76.45143#map=17/18.18001/-76.45143) 

School Mount Fletcher Primary School · Mavis Bank 11 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.03340&mlon=-76.65615#map=17/18.03340/-76.65615) 

College College of Agriculture, Science and Education · Snow Hill 16 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.20463&mlon=-76.48785#map=17/18.20463/-76.48785) 

Police station Gordon Town Police · Gordon Town 14 km [Map](https://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=18.03605&mlon=-76.71837#map=17/18.03605/-76.71837) 

Source: [Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0) and © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL)](https://overturemaps.org/).

Straight-line distance from the centre of the division, within 40 km.

## Other communities in Swift River

- Black Hill
- Fruitfulvale
- Hope Bay
- Swift River

## Quick answers

- Where is Shirley Castle?In Swift River, Portland Parish, Jamaica
- What borders Shirley Castle?Claverty Cottage, Fruitfulvale, Hagley Gap, Mavis Bank, Skibo/Chepstowe and Swift River
- What is there to see in Shirley Castle?Big Dunn Falls, Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park, High Fall
- What time zone is Shirley Castle in?UTC−5
- What currency is used in Shirley Castle?Dollar (JMD)
- What language is spoken in Shirley Castle?English (main languages nationally)
- How many villages are in Shirley Castle?19 named settlements (GeoNames, OpenStreetMap)
- What is the elevation of Shirley Castle?Settlements lie between 126 m and 644 m
- What is the highest point in Shirley Castle?High Peak (2,069 m, GeoNames elevation model)
- What is the best time to visit Shirley Castle?November to July
- Where is the nearest hospital to Shirley Castle?Louis Grant Medical Centre, about 17 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest bank to Shirley Castle?JN Bank, about 14 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest ATM to Shirley Castle?Credit Union ABM, about 18 km from the centre
- Where is the nearest petrol pump to Shirley Castle?Texaco, about 14 km from the centre
- What is the P-code of Shirley Castle?JM051004 (OCHA common operational dataset)