Lower Surry Church - Surry County Day Trip Pt. II

The ruins of Lower Surry Church are in the town (more of a crossroads actually) of Bacon's Castle, and it is a relic from the very early part of Virginia's history, but I couldn't find a whole lot of information on it, perhaps nothing historical took place here. There is a marble tablet on the side of the building that dates the church to 1639, and says it was burned in 1868. Why is it that people use the word "burned" instead of "caught fire" or "destroyed by fire"? "Burned" lends implications that it may have been done on purpose. Even though the church was destroyed so long ago, people continue to bury their dead there. Years ago before my wife and I were married, we stopped here to poke around. Back then more of the ruins still existed and you could see most of the window and door openings. There were many ancient trees growing in the shady graveyard, and even inside the church. My wife took at least a roll of film on the moss covered bricks and the headstones.


Unfortunately, Hurricane Isabel took a heavy toll on the old place. Most of the old trees came down, taking brick and mortar with them; its whole character was changed. Instead of a shady quit glade, it is now exposed and open to the passing traffic. This does make it easier to notice that there are actually two graveyards separated by a chain-link fence. The black graveyard is on one side, and the white on the other. The fence is not old, and I find it perplexing in 2008 that people still feel it necessary to keep the races separate. Do the spirits respect the fence when they roam on special nights?






Boxwoods in life, boxwoods in death.

Bacon's Castle - Surry County Day Trip Pt. I

I took a day trip this week to Surry County, which is about an hour west of home. Before Michael Vick made it famous for dog fighting, Surry County's best known landmark was Bacon's Castle. The site is owned and managed by The Association for the Preservation of Virgina Antiquities, and any pilgrimage of Virginia history should include a stop. Bacon's Castle is considered to be one of the oldest surviving brick houses in Anglo-America, and was built in 1665 at a time when everyone else was living in simple wood structures. Its builder was Arthur Allen who became wealthy from tobacco, and he choose a combination of Jacobean, Tudor and Stuart styles. Bacon's Castle got its name from fact the followers of Nathaniel Bacon occupied the house during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676 against the Royalist, however Bacon probably never set foot in the house.

In the first shot you can see the original portion of the house is on the left of the lower connector. The connector and the portion on the right were added much later.
No old Virginia house is complete without a certain number of boxwoods.

The triple chimneys are my favorite part of the house, and there is a set on each end of the original structure.

The garden at Bacon's Castle was restored based on archaeological evidence. It is divided into six large sections with a central axis down the middle. Two of the sections have been planted with vegetables that are appropriate to the time of the house.
The paths are made with packed sand.
There is a forcing wall on one side of the garden that was used to keep tender plants and to bring vegetables and fruit into season earlier.

The perimeter of the garden is planted with flowers that would have been familiar to the colonists in the late 1600's.