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29-472: Denbigh Plantation , also known as Mathews Manor, is a historic archaeological site located at Newport News, Virginia . The earliest owner of land in this area is known to be merchant Abraham Peirsey (who first came to Virginia in 1616 aboard the ship Susan ), and died in 16 January 1628. The name Denbigh is first recorded in 1635 in a will, but it is very likely the Anglican parish from which it draws its name

58-511: A 300-acre farm, was sold to by the Youngs to Hudson and Sallie Mench, who operated a sawmill here for 50 years. Their surname is the source of the modern neighborhood's name of Menchville . The last Denbigh mansion burned in 1877 and was never replaced. When William and Anne Young died in 1893, the remainder of the estate went to their six children, which included physician Dr. John A. Young, George Young, Betty Young, and three others. A Richard Young

87-494: A Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and that will contain both locational information and a combination of various information. This tool is very helpful to archaeologists who want to explore in a different area and want to see if anyone else has done research. They can use this tool to see what has already been discovered. With this information available, archaeologists can expand their research and add more to what has already been found. Traditionally, sites are distinguished by

116-567: A daughter of Sir Thomas Hinton . Wealth in Virginia and political power in England would make him a key figure in the early politics of the Virginia colony. The house, to be known as Mathews Manor, was built about 1626, possibly started by Peirsey. The post-medieval half-timbered Mathews Manor included a projecting porch and center chimney, both characteristic of Virginia's earliest substantial dwellings. Mathews's original grand house burned about 1650 and

145-500: A historical marker in a small park at 10 Blacksmythe Lane. An 18th-century dairy and early 19th-century kitchen associated with the Digges homestead are still standing. The earliest known porcelain in Virginia, as well as other early artifacts, were found here during excavation. Although now surrounded by residential development, these sites are preserved within neighborhood parks. It was listed on

174-495: A new Warwick Town courthouse was built near the main road. In 1813 the Warwick Town charter was repealed, and that portion of the property reverted to agriculture. Mr. Young later divided the area into four properties, keeping the one called Denbigh for himself, and naming the other three Quarterfield, Horse Point, and Reedy Branch, and giving them to his children. A William Garrow Young (b. 1814, wife Anne Greene Young) inherited

203-683: A sequence of natural geological or organic deposition, in the absence of human activity, to constitute a site worthy of study. Archaeological sites usually form through human-related processes but can be subject to natural, post-depositional factors. Cultural remnants which have been buried by sediments are, in many environments, more likely to be preserved than exposed cultural remnants. Natural actions resulting in sediment being deposited include alluvial (water-related) or aeolian (wind-related) natural processes. In jungles and other areas of lush plant growth, decomposed vegetative sediment can result in layers of soil deposited over remains. Colluviation ,

232-412: A site as well. Development-led archaeology undertaken as cultural resources management has the disadvantage (or the benefit) of having its sites defined by the limits of the intended development. Even in this case, however, in describing and interpreting the site, the archaeologist will have to look outside the boundaries of the building site. According to Jess Beck in "How Do Archaeologists Find Sites?"

261-453: A site worthy of study. Different archaeologists may see an ancient town, and its nearby cemetery as being two different sites, or as being part of the same wider site. The precepts of landscape archaeology attempt to see each discrete unit of human activity in the context of the wider environment, further distorting the concept of the site as a demarcated area. Furthermore, geoarchaeologists or environmental archaeologists would also consider

290-500: Is a branch of survey becoming more and more popular in archaeology, because it uses different types of instruments to investigate features below the ground surface. It is not as reliable because although they can see what is under the surface of the ground, it does not produce the best picture. Archaeologists still have to dig up the area in order to uncover the truth. There are also two most common types of geophysical survey, which is, magnetometer and ground penetrating radar. Magnetometry

319-427: Is recorded as owning land in this area in 1882, when he granted prior glebe land to a church in the area. The Young family began selling off large chunks of acreage at a time in the late 1800s. A George and Betty Young were living in the separate kitchen and dairy house of the prior mansion in 1935, and died without children. In 1897, Mennonites established a colony nearby, and that colony continued to grow rapidly over

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348-509: Is recorded that on 24 Jun 1679, William Cole was serving as guardian for the young John Mathews. William Cole had purchased nearby Boldrup Plantation in April 1671, and held it through his death in 1694. William Cole's daughter Susannah married Dudley Digges and William's own second wife was Anne Digges, both of children of Edward Digges , cementing the Cole-Digges family of Virginia. In 1680,

377-629: Is the technique of measuring and mapping patterns of magnetism in the soil. It uses an instrument called a magnetometer, which is required to measure and map traces of soil magnetism. The ground penetrating radar is a method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band of the radio spectrum and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. There are many other tools that can be used to find artifacts, but along with finding artifacts, archaeologists have to make maps. They do so by taking data from surveys, or archival research and plugging it into

406-580: The National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record . Sites may range from those with few or no remains visible above ground, to buildings and other structures still in use. Beyond this,

435-669: The Virginia Governor's Council ) before the American Revolutionary War, and William Digges Jr. (who married one of his uncle's daughters) served in the a revolutionary convention and in the Virginia House of Delegates . His brother Cole Digges also served in the Virginia Ratification Convention . The Digges family sold the 2700-acre plantation to a Mr. (Richard or John) Young in 1810, the same year

464-520: The Virginia House of Burgesses created a port town at the convergence of the Warwick River and Deep Creek. This was accomplished via the purchase of 50 acres of land from Denbigh Plantation. By 1691, this became an urban center including a courthouse, jail, and several houses. By 1730 it was a small commercial center, including a tobacco inspection warehouse, shipbuilding facilities, and wharf. Property owners in Warwick Town included William Digges and

493-468: The Denbigh Plantation Site during the 1960s. His findings revealed much about early domestic life in the Virginia colony. In addition to the manor house, the site also includes several 17th-century industrial sites and the archeological remains of the 18th-century home of the Digges family. The foundations of both the Digges and Mathews houses have been capped and delineate their outlines, one with

522-628: The Denbigh estate at some point. The family would flee in 1861 to live out the American Civil War in a Salisbury, North Carolina hotel. During the American Civil War, both confederate and union troops occupied the Young Farm. William Garrow Young served as a 1st Lt. in the Warwick Beauregards and is buried near the plantation house site. In 1869, the area previously known as Warwick Town, now

551-925: The Richard Young, who operated a tavern there. Denbigh plantation was acquired by the Digges family between 1698 and 1720, first by Cole Digges , grandson (and nephew) of William Cole, the same who had been guardian of the young John Mathews. The Digges family constructed another manor house very near the Mathews Manor house. Digges family members also owned the Bellfield/E.D. plantation in York County at that time. William Digges advertised for overseers for Denbigh in 1783 and 1784, and in 1785 advertised for sale between 600 and 800 acres near "New-Port-News", possibly Denbigh plantation. Cole Digges and William Digges represented Warwick County as burgesses (and Cole Digges served on

580-573: The area, and if they have the money and time for the site, they can start digging. There are many ways to find sites, one example can be through surveys. Surveys involve walking around analyzing the land and looking for artifacts. It can also involve digging, according to the Archaeological Institute of America, "archaeologists actively search areas that were likely to support human populations, or in places where old documents and records indicate people once lived." This helps archaeologists in

609-573: The areas with numerous artifacts are good targets for future excavation, while areas with a small number of artifacts are thought to reflect a lack of past human activity. Many areas have been discovered by accident. The most common people who have found artifacts are farmers who are plowing their fields or just cleaning them up, and they often find archaeological artifacts. Many people who are out hiking and even pilots find artifacts, and they usually end up reporting them to archaeologists for further investigation. When they find sites, they have to first record

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638-428: The burial of a site by sediments moved by gravity (called hillwash ) can also happen at sites on slopes. Human activities (both deliberate and incidental) also often bury sites. It is common in many cultures for newer structures to be built atop the remains of older ones. Urban archaeology has developed especially to deal with these sorts of site. Many sites are the subject of ongoing excavation or investigation. Note

667-428: The definition and geographical extent of a "site" can vary widely, depending on the period studied and the theoretical approach of the archaeologist. It is almost invariably difficult to delimit a site. It is sometimes taken to indicate a settlement of some sort, although the archaeologist must also define the limits of human activity around the settlement. Any episode of deposition, such as a hoard or burial, can form

696-775: The difference between archaeological sites and archaeological discoveries. Warwick Beauregards The unit was mustered by Col. Benjamin Stoddert Ewell to active duty on May 27, 1861. It became Company H of the 32nd Regiment Virginia Volunteers on July 1, 1861. It participated in 13 battles throughout the American Civil War . Only 15 members remained by the end of the War, the rest being killed, captured, succumbed by disease, integrated to other units, or returned home. The original unit included Curtis as captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, 67 privates and

725-420: The future. In case there is no time or money during the site's discovery, archaeologists can come back and visit the site for further digging to find out the extent of the site. Archaeologist can also sample randomly within a given area of land as another form of conducting surveys. Surveys are very useful, according to Jess Beck, "it can tell you where people were living at different points in the past." Geophysics

754-634: The next few decades next to and around the historical area of Denbigh Plantation. They continued to farm the land, as well as constructed a dairy and began residential development. By 1931, the former area of Warwick Town had become a municipal prison farm. Following World War II, Warwick County was reincorporated as Warwick City in 1952, then merged into the City of Newport News in 1958. Many former farms became residential developments and/or industrial parks, but archeological research conducted first. Colonial Williamsburg's renowned archeologist Ivor Noël Hume excavated

783-465: The presence of both artifacts and features . Common features include the remains of hearths and houses. Ecofacts , biological materials (such as bones, scales, and even feces) that are the result of human activity but are not deliberately modified, are also common at many archaeological sites. In the cases of the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic eras, a mere scatter of flint flakes will also constitute

812-596: Was established a decade earlier, at the same time as the other parishes in the area. Captain Samuel Mathews acquired the property upon his marriage to Peirsey's widow, Frances Greville. (Frances Greville had arrived in Virginia in 1620 as one of four women aboard the Supply , married Lt Col Nathaniel West (d. 1623/4), then Abraham Piersey (d. 1628), then Samuel Matthews) Greville would die around 1633. Mathews would spend much of his later life in England, eventually remarrying to

841-485: Was replaced with a less substantial home nearby by his son, Samuel Mathews Jr. (1630–1660), a popular loyalist-leaning governor of Colonial Virginia (1656–1660) during the commonwealth period. John Mathews, b. 1659 (son of Samuel Mathews Jr, grandson of Capt Mathews) is known to have lived at the home as a child, until sometime after receiving a patent on 9 March 1678 for 2944 acres on Deep Creek about 2 miles south of this location, near Blunt Poynt (Blount Point) . It

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