Jamestown, VA

All bound for Jamestown.

…..or today’s costume: tourist.

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas and I was keen to get a look at it as a couple of years ago I visited the oldest English colony in Canada at Cupids Newfoundland. Jamestown dates back to 1607 while Cupids is believed to have been settled in 1610. Of course the Vikings were here long before any of them but that’s another story. On our first day of touristing we went to visit the actual site of the colony and the museum associated with it. The second day we went to the reproduction village which presented life in colonial times as a living museum. Here are some pics from the first day: The dig site. Not too much activity at the dig site this time of year. I imagine the place is crawling with people in the summer but in November the crowds were sparse and the activities reduced. I was immediately drawn to the old graveyard. This one was right outside the church which still has the original tower from 1639. There has been a treasure trove of artifacts unearthed, especially from the original well. There was everything down there from a ceremonial staff with a bent tip (was someone trying to fish something up or did a kid hide it down there after they inadvertently bent it? We’ll never know the real story) to a shoe to, my favourite item, a pile of frog’s bones: And always the clay pipes. After all, Jamestown was the home of the earliest tobacco plantations. These pipes were particularly ornate I thought: And what would the Jamestown story be without Pocahontas? (Shame on Disney for making up its own fantastical version of the Pocahontas story). I have spent some time trying to figure out what the sculptor is trying to depict with this particular pose. Acquiescence? Sorry, we got none, or “What the heck were you thinking?” or “Will someone get this bird poop off of me?” The town site was excavated but the foundations reburied to preserve them. Reproduction brickwork was placed where the houses stood: It must have been prime real estate: as the agents would say, prime mature treed lots with ocean view: The only other real ruins besides the church tower were of Ambler House from the latter days of the settlement. This post is dedicated to Bill Gilbert, who discovered the Cupids Plantation site in Newfoundland and who is known to me as the King of Clay Pipes. More Jamestown adventures coming your way soon. © Judy Parsons 2014 Click on any picture for a larger view.