GUNSTON HALL’S ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM
When the full-time archaeology program was established at Gunston Hall in 1998, its initial investigations focused on the “regular” garden on the riverside of the mansion. Archaeologists were given the task of collecting enough evidence to allow a reasonable approximation of the 18th Century garden to be reconstructed.
John Mason wrote, “My father was fond of his garden and took most of the exercise he did take during the times of close occupation in it.” He tells us that the garden was exactly one acre in size, “reduced to a perfect level” and laid out in rectangles and squares with gravel walks. Much of what John Mason mentioned concerning the garden has been confirmed through archaeology. The margins of the one-acre garden have been identified and the major gravel pathways have been located. Yet much remains to be done to fully understand the garden of George Mason.
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