Bacon's Castle

Infobox_nrhp | name =Bacon's Castle (Arthur Allen House)
nrhp_type =nhl

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caption ="photo from Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record, U.S. Library of Congress collection"
location= Surry County, Virginia
lat_degrees = 37 | lat_minutes = 06 | lat_seconds = 38 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 76 | long_minutes = 43 | long_seconds = 41 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1665
architect=unknown
architecture=Jacobean and Greek revival
designated= October 9, 1960cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=646&ResourceType=Building
title=Bacon's Castle |accessdate=2008-06-23|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added =1966
governing_body =Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
refnum=66000849 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2006-03-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Bacon's Castle, also variously known as "Allen's Brick House" or the "Arthur Allen House" is located in Surry County, Virginia, USA. Soon after Surry County was formed in the Royal Colony of Virginia in 1652, Arthur Allen built a Jacobean brick house in 1665 near the James River, where he and his wife Alice (née Tucker) Allen lived. He was a wealthy merchant and a Justice of the Peace in Surry County. Allen died in 1669, but his son, Major Arthur Allen II, inherited the house and property. Major Allen was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.

Architecture

The house is a stunning example of Jacobean domestic architecture on a grand scale. Memorable architectural features include the triple-stacked chimneys, shaped Flemish gables, and carved compass roses decorating the cross beams in many of the public rooms. One of the oldest surviving dwelling houses in the United States, Bacon's Castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only three surviving Jacobean great houses in the Western Hemisphere; the other two are in Barbados.

History

About mid-September, 1676, a number of the rebel followers of Bacon seized the brick house of Major Allen and fortified it. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.] The garrison, commanded at various times by William Rookings, Arthur Long, Joseph Rogers and John Clements, retained control of the house for over three months while their cause declined. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.] The death of Bacon in October left his forces under the leadership of Joseph Ingram, who proved to be unsuited to the command. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.] Ingram dispersed his army in small garrisons, and as the demoralized troops began to plunder indiscriminately, the condition of the colony was soon deplorable. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.]

Royal Governor Sir William Berkeley began to conquer the isolated posts one by one, some by force and some by persuasion. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.] On December 29, a loyal force aboard the vessel "Young Prince", captured an unidentified "fort" which many historians have identified as Bacon's Castle. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.] After withstanding a brief siege early in January, 1677, the loyalists used the "fort" as a base of operations for the last engagements of the rebellion, which ended before the month was out. [National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Bacon's Castle, p. 2.]

Origin of the name

used that name when it published several articles about Bacon's Rebellion.

Current Status

Bacon's Castle was acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities in the 1970s and restored. It is now open to the public as one of Virginia'a historic houses which are also museums. Visitors can tour the house, stroll through the recreated 17th century garden, or view a variety of outbuildings including an original 18th century smokehouse and 19th century slaves' quarters.

References

*cite book |last=Wertenbaker |first=Thomas J. |title=Virginia under the Stuarts, 1607-1688 |date=1914 |publisher=Princeton University |location=New Jersey
*cite book |last=Morrison |first=Hugh |title=Early American Architecture |location=New York |date=1952
*cite book |last=Kimball |first=Fiske |title=Domestic Architecture of the American Colonies and of the Early Republic |date=1922 |location=New York

Notes

External links

* [http://www.apva.org/baconscastle Bacon's Castle webpage on the APVA Preservation Virginia website]
* [http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/BaCastle.html National Park Service, a brief history of Bacon's Castle]
* [http://www.photoblog.com/user/cmcarpenter/2006/10/21 Photoblog of Bacon's Castle]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@field(DOCID+@lit(VA0955)) Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress]