It is one of two on the property. The ladies (assuming ladies to the  
left as one faced both out the north entrance) is now a toolshed. I  
cannot remember whether the brickbond is Flemish that should be 18th,  
but I seem to vaguely remember that the ladies is part of the garden  
wall that is American bond but I don't remember how many courses.  
Either way, Am. Bond is 19th century. I will check it the next time  
I'm there.

Shirley upriver from Westover had separate facilities at the southern  
end of their formal garden, but they've been long since torn down.  
Berkeley has evidence of privy pits in the yard toward the river  
which I would assume to be a later issue as the original front on all  
of these houses was to the river.

Unfortunately, the Westover privy is not exactly amenable for  
inspection for the construction info regarding the 5 seater area as  
it has been used !!!! by tourists but without receptacles on the  
bottom. There are places I will necessarily avoid in my  
archaeological research ;)

There is also at Westover the "Indian Escape Tunnel" on the west side  
of the house that is apparent on the river bank. When Byrd built the  
property, there was no need for such. It was then assumed to be a  
drain of some sort. In the 1970's it was discovered that it connected  
with a drain just outside the laundry. But, if one continues the  
alignment, it extends to the ladies toilet, but would have been cut  
through by the sunken garden. Thus in all probability, it probably is  
a drain for the garden and laundry and nothing to do with draining  
the toilets as Jefferson had in his tramway device at Monticello.

Lyle Browning, RPA

On May 3, 2007, at 3:40 PM, Dr. Thomas Knight wrote:

> Hello, Group:
>
> Lyle raises an interesting point, and one I have often intended to
> investigate, regarding the 5-holer at Westover.  Does anyone know the
> history of this particular toilet?  I have not visited Westover  
> since 1998,
> but I do have some photographs of the interior of the building.
>
> It would be interesting to know if this structure dates to the 19th- 
> century
> or if it were in place in anything like its present form during the
> 18th-century, for a careful analysis of it might reveal significant
> information about the mores of Virginians during the period of its
> construction.  For instance, if it dates to the period when the Byrds
> actually controlled Westover, then its history might have  
> implications for
> the racialized, gendered, and class boundaries of early Virginia  
> society.
>
> I have often wondered, however, if the structure is of more recent  
> origin,
> perhaps an early 20th-century modification of a pre-existing  
> structure.
> Have any architectural surveys of Westover addressed this issue?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Thomas Daniel (Dan) Knight
> Assistant Professor
> Department of History and Philosophy
> The University of Texas -- Pan American
> 1201 West University Drive
> Edinburg, TX 78541-2999
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date:    Wed, 2 May 2007 10:30:22 -0400
> From:    "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Before the Portable Toilet
>
> .......Westover Plantation has a wonderful 5 holer with no dividers  
> between.
>
> Apparently, social customs were way more "open" then than now.
>
> Finally, and to turn everyone totally green, there was a famous
> medical treatise written in the 18th century by an Irish doctor who
> went behind hedges which served as sorts of linear curtains/screens
> for those who had the urge. The good doctor examined the evidence and
> wrote his treatise on the health of the individuals who had left said
> evidence.
>
> Lyle Browning, RPA