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From the Archives

January/February 2003

Questions

This photograph shows (right) one of the founding members of the Foundation for Historic Christ Church talking to (left) one of the founding fathers of American historical archaeology. Who are these two men, and what important project undertaken early in the Foundation’s history were they discussing here?

Answers

This photograph was taken in the fall of 1959. The man on the right is Charles A. Gridley Dawe, Secretary for the Foundation for Historic Christ Church at that time. He is talking to Dr. J. C. “Pinky” Harrington, archaeologist with the National Park Service.

In October of 1959, Dr. Harrington conducted archaeological investigations to determine the location and possible design of the wall which originally enclosed Christ Church. Over the course of a three-day dig, Harrington uncovered the footings of the brick wall, which encompassed an area around the church nearly 200 feet square. Harrington pinpointed the precise location of the wall, its thickness, and the bond used in the brickwork. He also found that the bricks in the wall were identical to those in the church itself, supporting the idea that they were fired in the same kilns and that the wall, therefore, was constructed at the same time as the church. Harrington also determined that the west entrance, with its inward-turning, curved brickwork and its pair of gates, had been the original entrance to the church.

Harrington’s work provided the impetus for the first major restoration initiative undertaken by the Foundation. The archaeological evidence established a firm basis from which to proceed with reconstruction of the churchyard wall. In 1965, the wall was rebuilt on the original brick footings, making it a more accurate reconstruction and enhancing its overall character.

For more information, please visit our archaeology section on the churchyard wall.