Bacon's Castle
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Bacon's Castle is located in Surry County, Virginia, USA. Soon after Surry County was formed in the Royal Colony of Virginia in 1652, Arthur Allen built a Jacobean brick house in 1665 near the James River, where he and his wife Alice (née Tucker) Allen lived. He was a wealthy merchant and a Justice of the Peace in Surry County. Allen died in 1669, but his son, Major Arthur Allen II, inherited the house and property. Major Allen was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
The house is a stunning example of Jacobean domestic architecture on a grand scale. Memorable architectural features include the triple-stacked chimneys, shaped Flemish gables, and carved compass roses decorating the cross beams in many of the public rooms. One of the oldest surviving dwelling houses in the United States, Bacon's Castle is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is one of only three surviving Jacobean great houses in the Western Hemisphere; the other two are in Barbados.
The Allen family's brick home became known as "Bacon's Castle" because it was occupied as a fort or "castle" during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. However, contrary to popular folklore, Nathaniel Bacon (1647-1676) never lived at Bacon's Castle, or is even known to have occupied it. Instead, the rebellious Nathaniel Bacon was the proprietor of Curles Neck Plantation in Henrico County, about 30 miles upriver on the northern bank of the James River. When Bacon died of fever in October, 1676, Royal Governor William Berkeley quickly regained control of the colony and quelled the seeds of rebellion.
Many historians believe the name "Bacon's Castle" was not used until many years after Bacon's Rebellion. In 1769, the Virginia Gazette newspaper in the capital city of Williamsburg used that name when it published several articles about Bacon's Rebellion.
Bacon's Castle was acquired by APVA Preservation Virginia in the 1970s and restored. It is now open to the public as one of Virginia'a historic houses which are also museums. Visitors can tour the house, stroll through the recreated 17th century garden, or view a variety of outbuildings including an original 18th century smokehouse and 19th century slave quarter.
