Millbank is the last district when you pass through the Rio Grande Valley and head towards the Blue and John Crow mountain range. This is an approximately 17.5-mile journey from Port Antonio on roads with patches of dirt, gravel and asphalt, a direct result of the extremely high rainfall in these areas. However, the scenery in this section of the “Rio Grande Valley” is so awesome, quaint, and majestic and the climate so pleasant and refreshing. Millbank is one of the districts populated by the eastern Maroons who are the descendants of black Africans who had been enslaved by the Spanish but who refused to submit to British control when the Spanish were defeated.
Today, these maroons have a unique system of communally-held treaty lands, a local council which uses their own political structure, and for ceremonial purposes, they still use of the abeng; a side-blown horn, as a means of long-distance communication. To ascend into Millbank, you cross the Alligator Church bridge and pass through quaint districts and villages such as Fellowship, Ginger House, and Comfort Castle.
