A Boy Named Sue: Bacon's Castle

I had never heard of Bacon's Castle before NIAHD- which is one of the benefits of working for them- I get to see a lot more of Virginia and learn about historical sites and find out which ones are worth visiting- which will benefit any of you who come to visit me.

According to their brochure- "Bacon's Castle, one of only three surviving Jacobean 'great houses' in the Western Hemisphere, was built in 1665 by planter Arthur Allen. In 1676, during Bacon's Rebellion, seventy of Nathaniel Bacon's men drove Allen's son, Major Arthur Allen, and his family from their home, occupying it for four months."

I think it is ironic- and kind of sad- that the house is named after Bacon (who never actually owned or lived in the house- he wasn't even there when his men occupied it, he was busy attacking Jamestown) and is not named after the man who obsessed over it's creation- going as far as to import dirt from England for his garden. Don't get me wrong- I find Bacon's Rebellion as fascinating as the next 20th century historian, but it doesn't make sense to name Bacon's Castle after him. Oh, and by the way, it's not a castle either. Just a fancy house. All that said- it was a cool building and we had a great tour guide (docent?).

And now, on to the obligatory pictures. (I'll make the same disclaimer I have before- the pictures would be better if I weren't trying to avoid having the students in the pictures- most of whom were standing in front of me).

These first two pictures are from the ferry ride over to Surry- and give you a different perspective of the last two sites I've written about-

Jamestown Settlement