Located in Saint Peter, Barbados, St. Nicholas Abbey was loosely established in the mid-seventeenth century when Colonel Benjamin Berringer built the house in 1658. In fact, the abbey has no church connection whatsoever and has always been a sugarcane plantation!

The abbey opens with a rather dramatic tale, as Berringer was killed in a duel with his neighbor, Sir John Yeamans, who then married Berringer's widow and claimed the abbey as his property. However, the victory was short lived as in 1669, the Colonel's children took the matter to court and were awarded ownership of the property. The house passed by marriage to Charles Cave in 1834, and his great-great-grandson Stephen Cave lived there from 1978 until his death in November 2003.

Sugar has been grown on the plantation since 1640, however after 1947 the abbey was no longer a functioning plantation, as it no longer processed sugar on the property. The cane is now processed elsewhere. Since 2006, the abbey has been owned by local Barbadian architect, Larry Warren, who developed the St. Nicholas Abbey Heritage Railway on the property.