Briars, Saint Helena, Historic pavilion in Alarm Forest, Saint Helena.

The Briars is a single-storey pavilion with a pale pinkish-beige facade on a low dark stone base. Its hipped roof has deep eaves carried by slender green pillars along the front and around the sides. A white double door with a fanlight sits in a raised frame between two tall green-framed windows, and a narrow brick path leads to the base.

The property served briefly as lodging for Napoleon in 1815 when he first arrived on the island, before he moved to his permanent residence. About a decade earlier, the Duke of Wellington also stayed at the same location.

Betsy Balcombe, the 14-year-old daughter of the merchant William Balcombe, was the only family member who spoke French and became Napoleon's translator during his stay from 18 October to 10 December 1815. Her memoirs recount the emperor's daily life with the family. The pavilion has belonged to France since Mabel Brookes donated it in 1959.

The pavilion stands in Alarm Forest district and has been French property since 1959, managed by the French foreign ministry through curator Michel Dancoisne-Martineau. A narrow brick path leads from the garden to the raised base and the white double door. The building is small, so the visit is short and mostly outdoors.

Wellington stayed at The Briars in 1805, returning from India, a decade before Napoleon. On 3 April 1816 he wrote to the garrison admiral: "You may tell Bony that I find his apartments at the Elysée-Bourbon very convenient and that I hope he likes mine at the Balcombes."