Archaeology of the 19th Century Landscape

Conceptual plan of Montpelier landscape, c. 1808-1844.
[Click picture for larger image.]

Montpelier archaeologists are investigating changes that the Madisons made to the mansion grounds during the 1808-1812 renovations. These changes involved transforming the 18th-century Georgian style of the parents' (featuring brick landscape walls and linear arrangements of planting features) to a design known as the "Picturesque" or natural style popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This style featured more Jeffersonian lines of curving serpentine paths/roads, and plantings made to nestle the mansion into a more natural setting. The most massive of the 19th-century landscape changes included the construction of the terraced garden, the leveling of the back yard, and the filling of the blacksmith complex for the construction of the temple.

This map combines conceptual elements (front fence, carriage drive, tree plantings, and garden shape) with archaeological finds (paths, detached kitchens, and slave quarters). The contour lines represent the modern terrain, yet, based on archaeological investigations, also largely reflect the early 19th century topography of the mansion. Archaeological evidence suggests that this topography was carved from the 18th-century yard during the 1808-1817 landscaping campaign of James Madison, Jr.

Rear Lawn of the Mansion

In 2004 Montpelier archaeologists excavated a large area in advance of the construction of an underground bunker to house utilities for the newly restored mansion. Archaeologists discovered a large amount of clay fill – more than three feet thick – placed in the area to level the rear lawn. The most significant discovery made in this area was that the level back yard was created during the 1810s, in association with the 1808-1812 renovations to the house. Madison had his enslaved workforce level a hill that existed between the colonnade and the formal garden, and move the soil to fill a gully behind Dolley's wing and to create a large, level rear lawn. The scope of this work included tens of thousands of tons of clay and topsoil that were transported by enslaved workers.

It appears that, prior to depositing the clay fill to level the rear lawn, enslaved workers removed areas of topsoil. The topsoil was first set aside and then placed on top of the red clay fill to allow for a lush green lawn. One result is that the artifacts (prehistoric ceramics, 18th-century porcelains, etc.) recovered from the first six inches of topsoil (shown in the profile as the "redeposited topsoil") were originally from the 18th-century topsoil. The presence of the prehistoric artifacts shows that the hill the Madisons selected for their home was a well-used living spot occupied centuries before their arrival.

Photograph of utility bunker excavations in rear lawn following the removal of the 19th century landscape fill.	Profile showing the sequential relationship between various fill layers in the mansion back yard. [Click picture for larger image.]

Front Gate and Entrance

During the summer of 2006, the Montpelier Archaeology Department successfully located the front gate and portions of the front fence system that the Madisons had in place during the 1808-1844 period. The evidence for the fence system consists of a series of postholes and postmolds. The postmolds, representing the actual location and remains of each fence post, have a charred edge and are 4-inches square in shape. Additionally, inside the fence archaeologists located an area paved with cobblestones from the Rapidan River that appears to be a siding, or disembarking area, for carriages. The main carriage road appears to run in front of this paved siding extending roughly from the temple area over to the present-day Montpelier Visitor Center. The cobbled road and fence posts were filled-over and removed by a later owner (Benjamin Thornton) around 1848, when the driveway was relocated to the front of the portico. This reconfiguration, in the late 1840s, ensured the incredible preservation of the Madison-era remains that archaeologists have discovered in the front yard.

Photo of front gate and entrance following the 2006 field season. The superimposed white lines denote fence post locations. The carriage siding is paved with rounded river cobbles, while the path leading to the Portico is graveled with river pebbles. The posts have been reconstructed in the front yard. [Click picture for larger image.]	Post hole (B) and mold (A) for one of the fence posts. The black square (A) shows the blackened remains of a post end, which was charred to protect the wood from decay and insect infestation. [Click picture for larger image.]

The Madison Temple

The temple was built by the same craftsmen – Dinsmore and Neilson – who renovated the Madisons' home in the 1808-1812 time period. The temple was designed to be a study for Mr. Madison, and has a 25-foot deep icehouse below. There is no evidence that Mr. Madison ever used it as a study, although he made good use of the ice house.

An entrance to the icehouse faces the farm pond that, in Madison's day, served as the ice pond.

Archaeologists Megan Veness and Erin Carmina record a section of stratigraphy from the 18th century blacksmiths complex over which the neoclassical temple was built by Madison in the 19th century.