Christopher Ayscough, the namesake of the shop, tried operating a tavern on the site between 1768-1770. Other shopkeepers, including Catherine Rathell, Matthew Holt, and Jacob Bruce, briefly occupied the store and sold various goods to townspeople.
The structure survived from the eighteenth century, although it was hardly recognizable due to the enlargements and modifications made in the nineteenth century. Once restored to its eighteenth-century appearance, the building exhibited such features typical of a commercial establishment as a gable end entrance and large shop window.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 103-104).
]]>(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 132-133).
]]>In the eighteenth century, "bricks used for buildings of the town were burned on or near the site and were laid in a coarse oyster-shell lime mortar. The gray-green glaze seen on some headers was imparted by burning the bricks in a kiln fired with oakwood. Only those bricks nearest the heat acquired the glazed surface. The use of bricks rubbed down to a smooth surface or to a molded profile was a favorite means of imparting finish to a building."
(Source: A. Lawrence Kocher and Howard Dearstyne, Colonial Williamsburg: Its Buildings and Gardens, rev. ed. [Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1961], 16).
]]>In the eighteenth century, "bricks used for buildings of the town were burned on or near the site and were laid in a coarse oyster-shell lime mortar. The gray-green glaze seen on some headers was imparted by burning the bricks in a kiln fired with oakwood. Only those bricks nearest the heat acquired the glazed surface. The use of bricks rubbed down to a smooth surface or to a molded profile was a favorite means of imparting finish to a building."
(Source: A. Lawrence Kocher and Howard Dearstyne, Colonial Williamsburg: Its Buildings and Gardens, rev. ed. [Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1961], 16).
]]>The rounded apsidal ends of the Capitol derive from Roman basilicas which contained such features in which public magistrates officiated. "The H-shaped plan of the Capitol reflects the division of the government between the lower and upper houses of the legislature....As the General Assembly evolved, it comprised the Council [meeting in the west wing, to the left] and the House of Burgesses [in the east wing, to the right], each of which met separately."
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 68).
]]>(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 74).
]]>The pillory - "or 'stretch-neck,' called 'the essence of punishment' in England - stood in the main squares of towns up and down the colonies. An upright board, hinged or divided in half with a hole in which the head was set fast, it usually also had two openings for the hands. Often the ears of the subject were nailed to the wood on either side of the head hole."
(Sources: on the Public Gaol, see Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 74; on the pillory, see Colonial Williamsburg Foundation website, "Bilboes, Brands, and Branks: Colonial Crimes and Punishments," Colonial Williamsburg Journal (Spring 2003) <http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/spring03/branks.cfm> (accessed 14 March 2014).
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The Robert Carter House (out of view, but whose front yard is pictured here) is one of the original eighty-eight buildings at Colonial Williamsburg. It served as the gentry-class townhouse residence of various members of the Carter family throughout the eighteenth century, beginning with Charles Carter, the son of Robert "King" Carter, and ending with Robert Carter III of Nomini Hall. Governor Dinwiddie also briefly resided in the house during the renovations of the Governor's Palace between 1751 and 1752.
(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 88-89).
]]>(Source: Michael Olmert and Suzanne Coffman, Official Guide to Colonial Williamsburg [Williamsburg, VA: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 2007], 88-89).
]]>Historical documentation also suggests, however, that the building may have been repurposed later as a guardhouse. “In July 1730 the Governor’s House was reported as being ‘very inconvenient for want of a covered way from the offices into the House’ and ‘a Sum not exceeding one Hundred Pounds’ was appropriated ‘for Building a Covered Way from the Offices belonging to the Governor’s House into the said House.” In 1745, historian Henry Howe apparently referred to the Palace’s Advance Buildings as “’…two small brick structures, the remains of the Palace…that on the right was the office, and the one on the left the guard house.’”
(Sources: A. Lawrence Kocher and Thomas T. Waterman, “Governor’s Palace Advance Outbuildings: Block 20, Buildings 3B & 3C Architectural Report,” [Williamsburg, Va.: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1952], 6-7; Ed Chappel, in-person communication in Special Collections Dept., John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, 11 April 2014, Williamsburg, Va.).
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