Ocean Hall (18ST71)
Site History
The Ocean Hall site (18ST71) is the multicomponent site consisting of an Archaic & Woodland camps & shell midden, Late Woodland village, a mid-late 17th century occupation, and a still-occupied early 18th-century house. The site is located on the Wicomico River in the Bushwood district of St. Mary's County, Maryland.
The brick cruck roofed structure known as Ocean Hall was built in 1703 by Gerard Slye II. The Slye family were Protestants and members of the Church of England, and at this time, Bushwood was a Protestant stronghold. Slye II married twice, both to Catholic women, who raised the children as Catholics. Ocean Hall became the site of a private Catholic chapel during the ownership of Slye II, with a free-standing Catholic chapel built by his son George after 1733.
Archaeological Investigations
M.E. Humphries, St. Mary's County Archaeologist, collected the plowed fields and riverbank in 1973. Spring plowing in that year exposed considerable early historic refuse on the north side of the structure. Artifacts have been collected all over the fields between the house and the riverbank, where there is a plow-disturbed shell midden. The area around the house itself, however, has never been plowed. Excavations were undertaken by Humphries with the assistance of Historic St. Mary’s City, revealing a late 17th-and early 18th-century pit feature that was likely a tree fall. Architectural and domestic artifacts filling the feature dated to the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as well as mid-18th century domestic debris. The mid-18th century debris were hypothesized to be from the demolition of a structure off the north end of the main house, likely the original kitchen for Ocean Hall.
In 1980 and 1981, excavation of a 30x30 ft. block of excavation units on the south side of the standing house prior to the construction of a new wing revealed numerous archaeological features. Excavation exposed numerous superimposed architectural features and cultural deposits, including structural postholes, chimney bases, cobblestone walkways, a root cellar feature, and paling ditches.
References
2011 Ocean Hall; Discovery of an American Classic. Printing Press, Inc.
1982 Architectural Archaeology of Ocean Hall. MHT# ST 33.
Associated Artifacts
Chinese Hard-Paste Porcelain
Other Forms
