The Historic Mandors’ Quarters

An interesting historical site in the Settlement area was that of the Mandors’ Quarters (aka “The Virgins’ Castle”). The mandors were the overseers or foremen of the labour force. Their quarters, located over the road from the current CLA building, unfortunately became ruinous in recent decades.

There were two parts of the quarters separated by a breezeway. The front part had separate accommodation units each consisting of a bedroom and small living area. The back part housed the utility areas such as kitchens, toilets, bathrooms etc. 

Interestingly, a 1916 map does show a rectangular building labelled “Mandors” in the same vicinity as the site. Could it be the same building? Regardless whether it is or not, it indicates an association of over 100 years with mandor housing in that area. 

In recent decades the building has been known as “The Virgin/s’ Castle. Mui Fong tells the origins of that name:

In the 1970s, the phosphate mining company (BPC) started to repatriate workers (and their dependants), reaching the age of 57 years old to China/Singapore. Their children who has a job can stay behind and at that time there were no female single quarters as such, so they place them in the building known as the Mandor Quarters, two to a unit. Long story short – The reason it’s named the Virgin Castle is, most of the girls who were placed there were between the age of 17 and 20 and were young and innocent at that time, hence Virgin Castle. These girls worked as typists and clerks.”

Later, married couples had moved in. The breezeway was converted into dining areas for each unit.

The photo below shows part of the old Mandors’ Quarters around the early to mid 1960s. Kit Chia, left, is playing on the verandah outside his home. Note the beautiful colonial wooden doors with transom vents / louvres above them and the wooden window shutters. The building looks well kept. 

Here is another photo of the building below taken in the 1970’s/80s looking towards the supermarket in Settlement (formerly known as the Trade Store). Note the vegetable patches of the residents in the front yard and also the mature tree.

In a 2012 report by the Heritage Council it was stated that:

The Mandors’ House has been substantially altered with internal partitions and enclosures of the breezeway and service block. White ant attacks are evident and spalling and cracking of the masonry has occurred. The building was assessed as unsound by the Department of the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Territories and Tourism (DASETT) in 1991.

Some time after this the front half of the building (as seen above) was demolished but work was then stalled for about 10 years.

By September 2018 the site was badly overgrown and fenced off.

In October 2022, the site was fully cleared of the jungle overgrowth and building debris. Select an image in the gallery below to see an enlarged version.

At the end of June 2025, local Island civil works and construction company, Acker, began the final demolition of the back part of the Mandors’ Quarters and by early July the remaining ruin was no more. Just prior to the demolition, where possible, historic fixtures and fittings etc that could be retrieved were saved. Select an image in the gallery below to see an enlarged version. Many thanks to Shane Adams for allowing his photos to be used. 

Acker are building a new 18 room hotel on the site, endeavouring to match the new buildings close to the original. It is also planned to restore the old contractor’s house next door into the reception building for the hotel. 

Many things would have happened at this site and its surrounds from Christmas Island’s earliest days. As the site dates back to over a century, all the memories and layers of history hang in the air there. 

Let’s have a final walkthrough along the bottom floor of the back part of the ruin in the video below.