Even if the modern Jenkins property is accepted as 

 having been part of the Porteus plantation it does 

 not necessarily follow that either the excavated 

 foundation or the much modernized "Ardudwy" 

 represent the remains of the Porteus house. However, 

 there may be some grounds for arguing that the 

 foundation and cellar hole were part of the house of 

 Edward Porteus the emigrant. According to legend, 

 Robert Porteus' property had once belonged to a 

 Dr. Green at whose house Nathaniel Bacon died in 

 1676. 7 



Clues to the appearance of Robert Porteus' house 

 are provided by an entry in the Petsworth Parish 

 Vestry Book for November 12, 1704. There it was 

 recorded that the church-wardens drew up an agree- 

 ment ". . . w ,h Ezra Gotten for y e building of a 

 gleebhouse & a kitchen y e S d house to be of y e 

 Same Dementions as M r Rob' Pourtees. & to be 

 framed on Good white oak Sills and to Stand upon 

 blocks & to be lath d . w tb Goof J oak lathes and 

 Shingled w ,h Good Siprus Shingles The S d house to 

 be 36 foot in Length & 20 foot wide, y e Roof to be 

 18 Inches Jet and to have two outSide Chimnies 

 and two Closets adjoyning to them, and all things 

 Ells pertaining according to y e Dementions of y e 

 above S d Rob 1 Pourtees house, Viz, y e above S d 

 Kitchin to be foot Long & foot wide" f 



The two important features of these instructions are 

 the measurements of the building and the fact that it 

 was raised on blocks and, therefore, did not have a 

 walled basement beneath it. But while the measure- 

 ments are stated to be those of the Porteus House, it 

 does not necessarily follow that the elevation of the 

 glebe house on blocks also drew its precedent from that 

 source. 9 However, if it did, then the modern "Ar- 



dudwy" could not have been the Porteus home as this 

 building not only measures 47 feet 3 inches by 15 feet 

 10 inches, but it is also built over a substantial brick- 

 walled basement. On the other hand, the excavated 

 cellar hole (though apparently having ended its life 

 prior to about 1700) was almost certainly part of a 

 building built on blocks or piers. 



It seems reasonable to suggest that Ezra Gotten was 

 assumed by the churchwardens to know more about 

 the Porteus House than was given in their specifica- 

 tions, in which case it might be supposed that he had 

 actually built that house. By extension it might also 

 be assumed that the job had been completed a com- 

 paratively short while before the building of the glebe 

 house was proposed. Therefore, if it can be estab- 

 lished that Robert Porteus built himself a new house 

 not too long before November 1704, it would probably 

 follow that he had lived in his father's old house until 

 that time. If Edward's house was then destroyed, it 

 would certainly add further support to the theory that 

 the excavated remains are part of that building. 



Unfortunately, there seems little likelihood of ob- 

 taining any additional information regarding either 

 the site of, or the appearance of Robert Porteus' 

 house. The glebe house does not survive, having been 

 abandoned in 1746, 10 and the only other potential 

 source of information has seemingly been lost. The 

 Reverend Robert Hodgson in his The Life of the Right 

 Reverend Beilby Porteus " stated that the bishop possessed 

 "... a singular picture which, though not in the best 

 style of coloring, was yet thought valuable by Sir 

 Joshua Reynolds, as a specimen of the extent which 

 the art of painting had reached at that time in Amer- 

 ica: and he himself very highly prized it, as exhibiting 

 a faithful and interesting representation of his father's 



? William & Mary Quarterly (1896), ser. 1, no. 5, p. 279. 

 "Oldraixon says that Bacon died at Dr. Green's in Gloucester, 

 and Hening describes this place in 1722 as 'then in the tenure of 

 Robert Porteus Esq.' " But as Robert Porteus purchased addi- 

 tional land in 1704, Dr. Green's home site may not have been 

 the same as that of Edward Porteus. 



« Vestry Book. p. 85. The kitchen measurements are absent. 



9 Vestry Book, pp. 74-75. At a previous vestry meeting on 

 28th June, 170[2?] details of the proposed glebe house were 

 given as follows: ''Six & thirty foot Long& twenty foot wide 

 with two Outside Chemneys two 8 foot Square Clossetts planckt 

 above & below, with two Chambers above Staires and y e Staires 

 to Goe up in y e midst of y e house with 3 Large Glass windows 

 Below Stair [ ] Each to have 3 Double Lights in y"' with a Glass 

 window in Each Chamber above Staires Each to have 3 Lights 

 in y m & Each Clossett to have a window in it and Each window 

 to have 3 Lights." There is no evidence that these specifications 

 were derived from Robert Porteus' house. 



io Vestry Book, p. 273. May 28, 1746: "Ordered this Present 

 Vestry, have thought it Better to Build a New Glebe house rather 

 then to Repair the old one . . . ." Then follow specifications 

 for the new building. 



"Robert Hodgson, The life of the Right Reverent! 

 Porteus D.D. (London, 1823) pp. 3-4. Hodgson describes 

 Xewbottle in the following terms: ''It consisted chiefly of plan- 

 tations of tobacco: and on one of these, called Xewbottle ! from 

 a village of that name near Edinburgh, once belonging to his 

 family, but now in the possession of the Marquis of Lothian), 

 he usually resided. The house stood upon a rising ground, 

 with a gradual descent to York river, which was there at least 

 two miles over: and here he enjoyed within himself every com- 

 fort and convenience that a man of moderate wishes could 

 desire ; living without the burthen of taxes, and possessing, under 

 the powerful protection of this kingdom, peace, plenty, and 

 security." 



PAPER 52: EXCAVATIONS AT CLAY BANK 



