THE SOMERSETT SITE

An archaeological portrait of an Ulster-Scots habitation on the Maine frontier

PAMELA CRANE

The following pages are reproduced from: “1718-2018, Reflections on 300 years of the Scots- Irish in Maine”
printed following the academic conference held at Bowdoin College, Maine in August 2018.
© 2019 Maine Ulster-Scots Project and the Ulster-Scots Agency

PART 3

Architecture

The architectural competence that the Ulster-Scots brought with them to New England could include the traditions from East Anglia and Borderers. Once here, the newly- arrived Ulster Scots also encountered an established culture of New Englanders, whose architectural construction methods and building forms arose from English traditions. In Maine of the seventeenth-century, the influence of the West Country, particularly Devonshire, was important, possibly dominant. But with the complete destruction of Maine settlements east of Wells, the New Englanders who repopulated the region starting in the 1710s brought mainly Massachusetts traditions derived from those of the southeast of England. It was these settlers from further south in New England that would have been among the Ulster-Scots’ nearest neighbors.

Elements of the Built Environment

The basic units of structure included its form (overall shape and room arrangement), the overall arrangement of windows and doors, construction materials and methods, and sheathing (coverings for windows, roof, and walls). Deetz speaks of “mental templates,” the collective ideas a society deemed right, appropriate, and normal. In form, houses in England, Scotland, and Ireland fall into two broad groups that may be referred to as the central chimney (lobby entrance) group and the two-cell plan (direct entrance) group. The central chimney group includes the familiar hall-and-parlor house as well as the ubiquitous Cape Cod house of New England, while the two cell group includes the long house and the byre house (Figure 3).

Form and framing

The form of the central chimney house does not allow for direct entry into the house. A typical version includes two rooms known as a hall, with the main living space and cooking fireplace, and the parlor, reserved for special occasions. These rooms usually flank a central chimney. Additions are made around these two main elements. Critically, the main entrance opens into a small lobby adjacent to the large chimney stacks, not directly into the living space. Such dwellings are part of the cultural traditions of the east of England.

The form of the long house allows for the direct entry into the hall. There is no central hearth and chimney. Additions are arranged in a linear fashion, with each hearth having its own chimney. Such houses are traditional in the West Country of England and extending through Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. A variant of the long house is the blackhouse. These structures have no chimney to vent smoke and they are commonly built into the side of a hill.

Another trait common to the building traditions of eastern England is the use of timber framing where complex joinery was fastened with mortices and tenons. In New England, with extensive forests, such timber framing was adopted readily, and quickly became the dominant building method. While Ireland had an indigenous timber framing tradition in medieval times, this was increasingly superseded by mass-walled construction starting in the 1500s so that by 1700, framing was relegated to construction of roof trusses.(7) In the roof, the variety of joints became simplified compared to those that continued to be used in England and New England.

A building may be built on a foundation made of stone or brick. Starting in the 1970s American archaeologists became aware that numerous colonial structures had no such masonry foundation, but rather, had their timbers set directly on or into the ground.(8) In 1992, Emerson Baker, Robert Bradley, Leon Cranmer, and Neil DePaoli delivered a paper on the widespread earthfast structures in Maine. These included temporary wigwams, cabins, and pithhouses, as well as permanent houses, public buildings, and military fortifications. Scholars identified earthfast technology in both the archaeological and documentary record. Earthfast buildings were defined as buildings “with framing members ‘standing or lying directly on the ground or erected in post holes.”(9) Many examples have been found in New England and on the Chesapeake. Importantly, archaeologist Orloff Miller identified post- and-ground structures during excavations at Salterstown, one of the London Company towns established during the Ulster Plantation.(10)

Somersett Architecture

A cellar hole on Somersett Point, now called Center Point, was chosen for testing, because it had high visibility on the landscape and tight focus (Figure 4). The cellar hole corresponded to one of the houses depicted on the Heath and Minot plans. The hole sits on top of the knoll commanding a broad view of Merrymeeting Bay. John Mann and I found it during survey work in 2010, although it was very familiar to the McFadden family. Ground truthing began in 2012.

In the first shovel test placed at the center of the cellar hole, John found a few hand- forged nails and pieces of “broad glass” window glass. This type is found on American colonial sites dating to the seventeenth century.(11) Later in the season, Brad McFadden found the wood lining of the west wall of the cellar hole. Excavations have continued until the present.

North-to-south, the cellar measures 5.25 meters long. East-to-west, it measures 4.02 m. In English units this would correspond to seventeen feet long and thirteen feet wide (Figure 5).

Architectural details were increasingly visible with depth, as the environment became more stable (Figure 6). Four courses of the plank lining to the cellar are still present. The planks are uniformly five centimeters in width and fifteen to eighteen centimeters in height. The planks run continuously along the wall in all but the south wall, where it is interrupted by a vertical post. Posts holding the planking to the walls are present in the east south and west walls; in the north wall the planks are held by a simple nailer.

At the southeast corner of the cellar hole was a spectacular structural feature. This was a corner post that had fallen and twisted into the cellar hole. Attached to this was a diagonal brace. There were two mortises on the post indicating English-style framing. The intention of the post and brace was to hold a horizontal girt. This girt, and ones like it, would have supported the floor of the house. On the floor, at the exact center of the cellar, was a large flat rock. The rock served as the base for a vertical stanchion. The stanchion would have added extra support to the floor above it.

While my first interpretation of the cellar was as a pithouse, or black house dug into the side of the hill, we found no evidence of an entrance. This was confirmed when post holes were found outside the perimeter of the cellar. The dimensions of the house proper are 5.99 meters long and 8.40 in length. In English units this corresponds to approximately 20 feet wide and 28 feet long. The outline of the house was askew to that of the cellar, a circumstance that occurs in other structures of the same time period.

Unlike the cellar, the house and yard areas had poor visibility and focus. Many more units were needed to define architectural features. The perimeter of the house was marked by post holes, linear soil stains indicating possible sills, and store plinths. No doors were readily visible, but there was one window present. Over 300 pieces of broad glass were found inside the cellar midway along the south wall (Figure 7). Most likely, the house was sheathed and roofed with clapboards. There were many three and four penny nails and there were no silica droplets to indicate thatch. Grasses contain silica in their leaves and stems; and a hot fire thatch burns leaving glassy silica droplets.

Just south of the house there is a broad area of darker organic soil. Three post holes are present in that area, indicating another smaller building. Only the south wall and parts of the east and west walls have been found. The south wall is 3.2 meters in length, or 10.5 feet in length. A linear, narrow, v-shaped feature extends from the northeast corner towards the southwest corner. These features have been interpreted as an animal keep with the drain. Few nails were found in this area. Perhaps the building was roofed, but not sheathed.

Unfortunately, convincing evidence of a chimney at hearth were not found. Whole bricks were present in the cellar, but only a few bricks were found in the area of the house proper. This may indicate the separation of the hall and the parlor by a hearth and chimney. It appears that Jane and Andrew were influenced by their time in Ulster and built a house in the style of the East of England.

Assessing the built environment of Somersett was a challenge. The structural evidence from Somerset, reflects traditions of the East of England, Ulster, and colonial English in Maine. E. Estyn Evans visited Maine as a guest scholar at Bowdoin College. While there, he recorded his observations in the Journal of Ulster Folklife. His observations included comparisons of hall-and-parlor form to the New England Cape Cod house. The cape style house is ubiquitous in Maine.

The pages above are reproduced from: “1718-2018, Reflections on 300 years of the Scots- Irish in Maine”
printed following the academic conference held at Bowdoin College, Maine in August 2018.
© 2019 Maine Ulster-Scots Project and the Ulster-Scots Agency

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