A 'precautionary' archaeological investigation near the Patrick Henry residence here at Red Hill (undertaken prior to installation of geothermal HVAC equipment) has presented us with some interesting evidence of late-18th- or early-to-mid19th-century gardening.  Just south of the house, betweeen the house and a boxwood 'maze' we have found a surface of cobblestones with stone edges or curbs and a stone sidewalk. The site is complicated by the series of 4 buildings/changes known to have occurred since the 1770s - but could be a terraced courtyard adjacent to the boxwood, or it could be a greenhouse adjacent to the Henry residence.  (We have some written evidence for these, too.)
  To help us date the cobblestone surface, it would be convenient to know how early machine-crushed rock (gravel) was in common use in Virginia.  There is a layer of what appears to be machine-crushed rock/gravel just above the cobblestones.
  On the assumption that machine-crushed rock is a fairly recent commodity, we are inclined to associate the rock/gravel layer with ca. 1912 modifications to the house and garden - but of course if machine-crushed rock was in common use much earlier, that consideration could alter the interpretation of the cobblestone layer and associate it with 1830-1850 modifications to the house and garden.


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Jon Kukla ....................... Executive Vice-President and CEO
1250 Red Hill Road ........ Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation
Brookneal, VA 24528 .... www.redhill.org .... 804 376-2044
Home 804 376-4172 ...... Office email: [log in to unmask]
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