On April 2, 1956, the junction point of the three walls found in the
1954 test was reexcavated. The bottom layer of horizontally placed
stones 1.8-1.9 feet wide was found _in situ_, while most of the vertical
stones from the second course had been broken or knocked off by repeated
plowing. Construction of the highway had completely removed a section of
the wall. The corner of the two brick walls was revealed to have been
superimposed on the northernmost foundation block of the stone wall,
thus indicating that the stone wall preceded the building of the brick
ones. The upper stone block that had been removed to make room for this
brick corner still lay a few feet to the east where it had been cast
aside in the 18th century. This part of the stone wall, together with
its continuation beyond the highway to the creek, was designated Wall A
(figs. 21 and 24).
Exposure of the brick wall running westward from Wall A (designated Wall
A-I) disclosed broken gaps in the brickwork, the gaps ranging from 1.8
to 3 feet in length, and the intervening stretches of intact wall, from
7.33 to 8 feet. Eight-foot spacings are normal for the settings of
modern wooden fence posts, as such a fence south of the highway
illustrated. It is assumed, therefore, that, following the destruction
of the exposed part of the brick wall, a wooden fence was built along
the same line, requiring the removal of bricks to permit the setting of
fence posts (fig. 26).
Wall A-I intersected the modern highway at an acute angle, disappeared
thereunder and reappeared beyond. South of the clump of trees it abutted
another wall of different construction which ran continuously in the
same direction for 28 feet. Because of their manner of construction, the
two walls at their point of juncture were not integrated and, hence,
probably were constructed at different times. The 28-foot section later
proved to be the south wall of the mansion, designated as B. (This wall
will be considered when that structure is described, as will another
section that continued for less than 4 feet to the point where a 12-foot
modern driveway crossed over it.)
To the west of the driveway another wall (B-I), still in line with Wall
A-I, extended toward the "gutt." Of this only one brick course remained,
a brick and a half thick. About midway in its length were slight
indications that the wall footings had been expanded for a short
distance, as though for a gate; however, the crumbled condition of the
brick and mortar fragments made this inference uncertain.
Near the edge of the "gutt," 146 feet from the southwest corner of the
Structure B main foundation, Wall B-I terminated in an oblique-angled
corner, the other side of which was designated Wall B-II. This wall ran
384 feet in a southwesterly direction under trees and beneath a
boathouse along the "gutt," ending at the back of Potomac Creek. It was
constructed of rough blocks of the fossil-imbedded marl that underlies
Marlborough and crops out along the Potomac shore. Walls A, A-I, B-I,
and B-II, together with the creek bank, form an enclosure measuring a
little over two acres.
Returning to the point of beginning excavation, the brick wall which is
extended north from stone wall A (designated as Wall A-II) was followed
for a distance of 175 feet. Like Wall A-I, it was a brick and a half
thick (a row of headers lying beside a row of stretchers), and was
represented for a distance of 36 feet by two courses. Beyond this point
for another 30 feet, a shift in the contour of the land, allowing deeper
plowing in relation to the original height of the wall, had caused the
second course of bricks to be knocked off. From there on, only
occasional clusters of bricks remained, the evidence of the wall
consisting otherwise of a thin layer of mortar and brick.
Wall A-II terminated in a corner. The other side of the corner was of
the same construction and ran westerly at right angles for a total
distance of 264.5 feet, passing beneath the highway (north of the turn)
and stopping against the southeast corner of a structure designated E.
Extending south from Structure E was an 84-foot wall (Wall E) a brick
and a half thick, laid this time in Flemish bond (header-stretcher-header)
in several courses.
Another east-west wall, of which only remnants were found, joined Wall
E and its southern terminus. Six feet west of Wall E this fragmentary
wall widened from three to four bricks in thickness in what appeared to
be the foundation of a wide gate, with a heavy iron hinge-pintle _in
situ_; beyond this it disappeared in a jumble of brickbats.
Upon completion of the wall excavations, a return was made to Wall A,
where a visible feature had been observed, although not investigated.
This feature was a three-sided, westward projection from Wall A,
similarly built of Aquia-type stone, forming with Wall A a long, narrow
enclosure. The southern east-west course of this structure meets Wall A
approximately 62 feet north of the creek-side terminus of Wall A and
extends 59 feet to the west. The north-south course runs 100 feet to its
junction with the northern east-west segment. The latter segment is only
55 feet long, so the enclosure is not quite symmetrical. No excavations
were made here. However, in line with the north cross wall of the
enclosure, trenches were dug at four intervals in a futile effort to
locate evidence of a boundary wall in the present orchard lying to the
east of the road to the creek.