residence." I his last statement is assumed to be 

 hearsay .is Beilby Porteus was born in England in 1731 

 and did not, .is far as we know, ever visit Virginia. 

 Attempts to find the picture have met with no success '-' 

 and in all probability ii has long since been destroyed 

 or at best, robbed of its identity. 



Archeological and Architectural Evidence 



It is not within the purpose ol tins paper to include 

 ,in architectural study of "Ardudwy." Neither the 

 building's measurements nor its basement lend 

 credence to the belief that it was once the home of 

 Robert Porteus. In addition, the 1704 specification 

 called lor exterior chimneys while those of "Ardudwy" 

 .,,,■ interior. The basement walls use shell mortar 

 and include bricks of widely varying sizes, but al- 

 though many of them have an early appearance, they 



12 A request for information was published in the English mag- 

 azine Country Life (May 24. 1962), vol. 131, no. 3403. p. 1251. 

 tin-, yielded a reply from the Reverend W. B. Porteus of 

 Garstang Vicarage, Nr. Preston, Lancashire. He noted that 

 Bishop Beilby Porteus was buried at Sundridge in Kent and 

 that prior to the Second World Wai family connections ot the 

 Bishop's wife named Polhill-Drabble still lived in that village 

 and urn- deeply interested in their lineage. The Rev. Porteus 

 feared thai Mr. and Mis. Polhill-Drabble were now dead, and 

 is I have been unable to trace them. I assume that this is the 





9K. MHK <*» 



Figure p- -Tin chimni y and underhearth foundation. 



ni.i\ well have been reused from elsewhere. Interior 

 details such as mantels and doors would seem to date 

 from the early 19th century. What little of the fram- 

 ing that is visible is pegged but is liberally pierced 

 with both wrought and cut nails. All in all, it seems 

 probable that "Ardudwy" was built in the very late 

 18th or early 19th century. Archaeological evidence 

 supports this belief in that the property is richly 

 scattered with artifacts of the late 17th century and 

 of all dates after about 1800, but has yielded very few 

 items that can be attributed to the 18th century. 

 All appearances point to the abandoning of the im- 

 mediate area as a habitation site after the destruction 

 of the excavated building around 1700. The sub- 

 sequent building of "Ardudwy" so close to the early 

 house may be assumed to be coincidental, though the 

 site is certainly a desirable and obvious location for a 

 residence. 



Little information as to the above ground appear- 

 ance of the 17th-century structure was forthcoming, 

 partly because it had almost certainly stood on piers 

 or blocks, and partly because the excavations were 

 restricted by limitations of time, labor, and the desire 

 of the owners to retain at least something of their 

 garden. Neither extensive probing nor a soil resis- 

 tivitv survey revealed evidence of a second chimney, 

 nor did they give any clues as to the total length or 

 breadth of the cellar hole. The back wall of the chim- 

 ney had been deliberately dismantled and only a thin 

 skin of brickbats and mortar on the bottom of the 

 robber trench survived to mark its position. It is 

 therefore quite possible that another chimney was 

 dismantled with sufficient completeness to elude 

 discovery by either of the exploratory methods used. 



The jambs of the partially surviving chimney (fig. 4) 

 were laid in English bond and were 1 foot 7 inches 

 thick and 4 feet 4 inches long. 13 The interior width 

 of the fireplace measured 7 feet, which was large by 

 18th-century domestic standards, but not uncommon 

 in the 17th century before separate kitchens became 

 the rule. 14 Both jambs were built into the side of the 

 cellar hole and were seated on a bed of small rocks, 



i3 Seven courses surviving, top at 2 ft. 2 in. below modem 

 grade. Shell mortar. Specimen bricks: 9 in. by 4}i in by Vfy 

 tl - ind in. by 4> , in. by 2 in. (dark red). 



"A late 17th- or verj earl) 18th-centur) house at timer's 

 Neck in James City County, measuring 42 ft. 3 in. by 19 ft. 1 

 i„ . possessed a < himne\ at either end with dimensions of 9 ft. 

 1 1 in. by 4 ft. 1 1 in. and 9 ft. in. by 5 ft. The iambs varied 

 in tin. kness horn 1 It. i» in. to 1 ft. 11 in. See footnote 22. 



BULLETIN 249: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



