href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@45741@[email protected]#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">[4] The Porteus family continued to own this or other land in the Second Precinct until at least 1763 as the bounds of that precinct were ordered to be processioned in 1751, 1755, 1759 and 1763 beginning "on the Land of Rob^t Porteus Esq^r."[5] As Robert Porteus never returned to Virginia after 1727 and died in 1758, it must either be assumed that the plantation was taken over by a son or that it was operated by a tenant or manager on "Capt." Robert Porteus' behalf. In the absence of any other documentation indicating the presence of any members of the Porteus family in Gloucester after October 1725,[6] the latter construction seems most reasonable. The continuing references to Robert Porteus' land in the Second Precinct until 1763 may be explained as referring to the estate of the late Robert Porteus.

Figure 2.—Plan of excavations in relation to the existing house.

Figure 3.—Plan of excavated areas and structural remains.

Even if the modern Jenkins property is accepted as having been part of the Porteus plantation it does not necessarily follow that either the excavated foundation or the much modernized "Ardudwy" represent the remains of the Porteus house. However, there may be some grounds for arguing that the foundation and cellar hole were part of the house of Edward Porteus the emigrant. According to legend, Robert Porteus' property had once belonged to a Dr. Green at whose house Nathaniel Bacon died in 1676.[7]

Clues to the appearance of Robert Porteus' house are provided by an entry in the Petsworth Parish Vestry Book for November 12, 1704. There it was recorded that the churchwardens drew up an agreement "... w^th Ezra Cotten for y^e building of a gleebhouse & a kitchen y^e S^d house to be of y^e Same Dementions as M^r Rob^t Pourtees. & to be framed on Good white oak Sills and to Stand upon blocks & to be lath^d. w^th Goo[] oak lathes and Shingled w^th Good Siprus Shingles The S^d house to be 36 foot in Length & 20 foot wide, y^e Roof to be 18 Inches Jet and to have two outside Chimnies and two Closets adjoyning to them, and all things Ells pertaining according to y^e Dementions of y^e above S^d Rob^t Pourtees house, Viz, y^e above S^d Kitchin to be foot Long & foot wide"[8]

The two important features of these instructions are the measurements of the building and the fact that it was raised on blocks and, therefore, did not have a walled basement beneath it. But while the measurements are stated to be those of the Porteus House, it does not necessarily follow that the elevation of the glebe house on blocks also drew its precedent from that source.[9] However, if it did, then the modern "Ardudwy" could not have been the Porteus home as this building not only measures 47 feet 3 inches by 15 feet 10 inches, but it is also built over a substantial brick-walled basement. On the other hand, the excavated cellar hole (though apparently having ended its life prior to about 1700) was almost certainly part of a building built on blocks or piers.

It seems reasonable to suggest that Ezra Cotten was assumed by the churchwardens to know more about the Porteus House than was given in their specifications, in which case it might be supposed that he had actually built that house. By extension it might also be assumed that the job had been completed a comparatively short while before the building of the glebe house was proposed. Therefore, if it can be established that Robert Porteus built himself a new house not too long before November 1704, it would probably follow that he had lived in his father's old house until that time. If Edward's house was then destroyed, it would certainly add further support to the theory that the excavated remains are part of that building.

Unfortunately, there seems little likelihood of obtaining any additional information regarding either the site of, or the appearance of Robert Porteus' house. The glebe house does not survive, having been abandoned in 1746,[10] and the only other potential source of information has seemingly been lost. The Reverend Robert Hodgson in his The Life of the Right Reverend Beilby Porteus[11] stated that the bishop possessed "... a singular picture which, though not in the best style of coloring, was yet thought valuable by Sir Joshua Reynolds, as a specimen of the extent which the art of painting had reached at that time in America: and he himself very highly prized it, as exhibiting a faithful and interesting representation of his father's residence." This last statement is assumed to be hearsay as Beilby Porteus was born in England in 1731 and did not, as far as we know, ever visit Virginia. Attempts to find the picture have met with no success[12] and in all probability it has long since been destroyed or at best, robbed of its identity.

Archeological and Architectural Evidence

It is not within the purpose of this paper to include an architectural study of "Ardudwy." Neither the building's measurements nor its basement lend credence to the belief that it was once the home of Robert Porteus. In addition, the 1704 specification called for exterior chimneys while those of "Ardudwy" are interior. The basement walls use shell mortar and include bricks of widely varying sizes, but although many of them have an early appearance, they may well have been reused from elsewhere. Interior details such as mantels and doors would seem to date from the early 19th century. What little of the framing that is visible is pegged but is liberally pierced with both wrought and cut nails. All in all, it seems probable that "Ardudwy" was built in the very late 18th or early 19th century. Archeological