Hallowed Heritage: The Life of VirginiaTorpey, Dorothy Margaret
History
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia
Torpey, Dorothy Margaret
Virginia -- Civilization
Carter's Grove (1751) in James City County is another Georgian
type house, planned and partially constructed by Carter Burwell in
1751. The main unit of the mansion was constructed by the English
builder, Richard Bayliss, and another Britisher, David Minitree. The
mansion consists of two-and-a-half stories with wings on each side
of one story. It is particularly noteworthy for its almost perfect
symmetry. The main unit has a very high roof with a pair of large
square chimneys. There are several dormer windows and the entire
structure is 200 feet long. The interior as well as the exterior
is beautiful with extensive pine paneling, a graceful arch across
the middle of the main hall and exquisitely carved walnut railings
along the stairway. Some officers of Lt. Col. Banaster Tarleton's
troops used this place as headquarters in 1781. When Tarleton
suddenly needed his troops, he rode horseback up the beautiful
carved stairway. The horse's hoofprints are still observable on the
stairway steps.
Mount Airy in Richmond County was constructed by Colonel John Tayloe
in 1758. This house is unusual because it was built entirely of
stone, a rarity because the Tidewater area did not have an extensive
amount of stone. Mount Airy is built of brown stone and trimmed with
light stone furnishing a colorful contrast.
The architecture of churches in Virginia is likewise varied. St.
Luke's Church, originally known as the Brick Church in Isle of Wight
County, is believed to be the oldest church still in existence in
the original thirteen colonies. It is easily recognizable from its
square tower and gabled nave. The brick Jamestown Church Tower
(1639) is a Gothic structure also. The famous Bruton Parish Church
in Williamsburg (1715) is an example of the change in architecture
due to Governor Spottswood's planned improvement program for
Williamsburg. This is the oldest Episcopal Church continuously
in use in Virginia. Its cruciform construction of red brick is
unusual with its numerous high, white shuttered windows. The square
tower was built at a later date and seems to add dignity to the
structure. Christ Church in Alexandria, constructed in 1767-1772,
has characteristics of the late Georgian Colonial Period: red brick,
a square tower with an octagonal-shaped belfry having a dome cupola,
a trimming of white stone and a crown of Wrennish pepperpots.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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