Day’s Trip Bacon’s Castle Surry, Virginia

Contrary to popular folklore, Bacon never lived at nor visited Bacon Castle.

Soon after Surry County was formed in the Royal Colony of Virginia in 1652, Arthur Allen built the high-styled Jacobean brick house near the James River, where he lived with his wife, Alice Allen.

Allen was a wealthy merchant and a Justice of the Peace for Surry County. When Allen died in 1669 his son, Authur Allen II inherited the house and property.

For those looking for a day trip filled with history and unique architecture, Bacon’s Castle, also known as the Arthur Allen House, is place to add to the list. Bacon’s Castle, located in Surry, Virginia is known as the oldest documented brick dwelling in the United States.

Built in 1665, Bacon’s Castle is recognized as an extremely rare example of Jacobean architecture of the new world. The house became known as Bacon’s Castle because it was occupied as a fort or castle by several followers of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676.

Bacon’s Rebellion was an armed rebellion by Virginia settlers led by Bacon against the rule of Governor William Berkley.

Around mid-September 1676, a group of Bacon’s rebel followers seized the property. The home was commanded at various times by William Rookings, Authur Long, Joseph Rogers and John Clements, retained control of the house for over three months while their caused declined.

The death of Bacon in October of the same year left his forces under the leadership of Joseph Ingram, who proved unsuited for the command. Ingram dispersed the army to other locations.

By the Civil War, Bacon’s Castle was owned by the Hankins family. James Hankins was a law student at the University of Virginia at the outbreak of the Civil War. He was a member of the Jefferson Society (a literary society) and was commissioned June 22, 1861 as first lieutenant of artillery, Fourth Regiment, Virginia Militia.

Later, he became the Captain of the Surry Light Artillery. William Underwood killed Hankins in a duel at Isle of Wight Courthouse.

Like other James River Plantations, Bacon’s Castle faced the problems of manpower due to the emancipation of slave and insurmountable debt following the Civil War.

John Hankins had mortgaged the property prior to his death in 1870. Unable to raise the money to pay the mortgage, his daughter-Virginia Hankins-sold the 1,200-acre estate in 1872 to the mortgage holder to pay off the debt and provide for her brothers’ and sisters’ education. The family moved to Richmond, Virginia, who became a teacher.

William Allen Warren purchased the estate in 1880, and sold it to his son Charles Allen Warren in 1909.

When Allen died in 1931, the estate passed through inheritance to his son, Walker Pegram Warren, who was born in the mansion. Warren and his wife used Bacon’s Castle as their second home until their deaths in a car accident in 1973.

The Warrens’ had no children, so the mansion, outbuildings and 40 acres of the plantation was acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. The remaining 1,130-acres of the plantation was acquired by Virginia Senator Garland Gray and was later passed to his son, Elmon T. Gray. It is still devoted to agriculture.

After the Preservation Society acquired the house, it underwent restoration. Preservation activities continue while guests visit the site.

Bacon’s Castle now operates as a house museum and historic site with 40-acres of outbuildings including barns, slave and tenant quarters, smokehouses and a 17-century English formal garden.

In 2015, the Virginia Outdoors Foundation received a $257,996 grant from the Virginia Land Conservation Foundation to help the group purchase a conservation easement on 1,260 acres of privately-owned farmland surround Bacon’s Castle. The easement ensures the land will be permanently protected from residential and commercial development.

Guests may tour Bacon’s Castle from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and noon – 4 p.m. on Sundays between March and November. These guided tours give an inside look at the rare example of American Jacobean architecture, and the only highstyle house from the 17th Century. It is only one of three surviving Jacobean great houses west of the Atlantic Ocean.

Visitors will see many notable architectural features include triple-stacked chimneys, shaped Flemish gables and carved compass roses decorating the cross beams in many of the public rooms, along with time-era correct furnishings and clothing.

One of the highlights of the tour is preserved writings on the wall in the children’s bedroom on the fourth floor and signatures and a love letter etched in window panes.

Between the mid to late 19th Century, Bacon’s Castle underwent several modifications, which can still be seen today.

An original one-story service wing was replaced with a taller Greek Revival wing. Around this time, the entrance was moved from the center of the main block house and diamond-pane casement windows were exchanged for double-hung dash windows.

Moving the door left a scar in the location of the original pediment surround. All changes were maintained in the restoration.

Visitors may also self-tour the grounds, outbuildings and gardens throughout the year. Group tours are available, and there is a gift shop. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

Before or after a trip to Bacon’s Castle, visitors are recommended to travel approximately 10 miles down the road to historic downtown Smithfield, Virginia.

The downtown area is filled with a variety of antique stores, a bakery, an ice cream shop and restaurants.

A lunch or dinner recommendation would be the iconic Taste of Smithfield Restaurant.

The flagship restaurant and store of Smithfield Foods features the best hams from all over the world, over 240 different flavors of peanuts and memorabilia of the historic town.

The menu includes half-pound 100 percent Certified Angus beef burgers, signature sandwiches, salads, soups, homemade desserts and signature cocktails.

This trip can be made easily in one day and promises to be interesting to guests of all ages.

Leslie Beachboard is a longtime contributor to Eastern North Carolina Living.

County: Halifax

Marker ID: E-103

Date Cast:1992