Steve/sewell
Posts: 3597
Joined: 1/23/2010
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Thanks Rory,thats a great article.In 1983 I spent two weeks in Virginia with the final week in the Tidewater area Bush Gardens,Jamestown all the old plantations on the James River.When we were at Carters grove Plantation the rear of their property is the bank of the James river. On a small section a new fort and settlement had been discovered called Wolstenholme Towne.This was was a fortified settlement in the Virginia Colony begun with a population of about 40 settlers of the Virginia Company of London which was located about 7 miles downstream from Jamestown. Named for Sir John Wolstenholme, one of the investors, it was established about 1618 on a plantation named Martin's Hundred. Housing in Wolstenholme Towne consisted of rough cabins of wattle and daub woven on wooden posts thrust into the clay subsoil.
On March 22, 1622, the Native American Powhatans rose to kill as many English settlers as could be surprised in their homes and fields. From the fall line of the James River to Hampton Roads, they burned and looted settlements, killing an estimated 400 colonists.
Martin's Hundred, the plantation hardest hit, lost more than 50, perhaps as many as 70. Wolstenholme Towne's death toll was not separated in the death rolls. About 30 miles upriver on the south bank of the James, Sir Thomas Dale's new "citiy" (sic) of Henricus was also wiped out in what has come to be called the Indian Massacre of 1622.
In the 20th century, separate groups of archaeologists uncovered the sites of both Wolstenholme Towne and Henricus. The former is located on the grounds of Carter's Grove plantation in the Grove Community of southeastern James City County. The findings were chronicled by author and historian Ivor Noel Hume.
In December 2007, Carter's Grove was acquired from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation by CNET founder Halsey Minor for $15.3 million. Per the press release the new owner "plans to use the mansion as a private residence and use the site as a center for a thoroughbred horse-breeding program."
Wolstenholme Towne is now considered one of the many lost towns of Virginia.
The day we were there it was pouring rain and we didnt know that the archaeologists were working the site.The workers were not there and there was a break in the rain abd my wife and I wanted to see the gardens on the property as they were supposed to be some of the best in the world.
We were not dissapointed because it was an enormous English garden probably 500 by 500 feet.After finishing walking the garden the sun popped out and we wanted to see the James river up close.There on the right about 150 feet from the banks of the river a full blown archaeological dig was under way.
The tiered layers of the dig were filled with water as days of rain flooded all of South Eastern Virginia.The entire area was roped off with crime scene safety tape.As we were leaving I spotted on the edge of their tape line of demarcation a piece of glass sticking out.It turned out to be a fully intact English mallet bottle which I took back to the museum house after thinking long and hard as to whether to keep it or not.My conscience wouldnt allow me to keep it.Later that same year a large story with plenty of pictures of the site and the artifacts found was in the National Geographic magazine.
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RE: English Black Glass or Dutch ? - 
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