James Anderson Armoury (Block 10, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation)
Site History
The James Anderson Armoury is a reconstructed 18th-century forge complex located on Duke of Gloucester Street in the Historic Area of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. James Anderson was a blacksmith and gunsmith and operated his business from a shop behind the adjoining Barraud House property, where he lived. Anderson purchased what is now called the Armoury property in 1770. He was awarded the government contract as Public Armourer in 1776, and the responsibilities of that position grew as the Revolutionary War intensified. By 1778, Anderson was no longer able to accommodate weapons repair, and the production of camp supplies, uniform repair, etc. in his civilian blacksmith shop. Anderson began construction of the Armoury complex around 1778, expanding his blacksmithing operations to include five forges, a tinworking shop, an unheated workshop and several storage buildings.
Anderson left Williamsburg to be at the new capital in Richmond in 1780, but returned to Williamsburg in 1782, having resigned his post as Public Armorer. He continued his blacksmithing operations until his death in 1798 and documentary evidence indicates he made regular renovations and changes to his facilities.
Archaeological Investigations
Archaeological investigations of varying scales have been conducted by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation on this property. The subsurface foundations of the James Anderson House, fronting Duke of Gloucester Street, were discovered in 1931 using the cross-trenching excavation technique typically employed during the early years of the Foundation. Only limited data about the forge area (the locations of two possible forges) was provided by the 1931 work, since the cross-trenching technique focused primarily on uncovering brick foundations. The Anderson House, outbuildings and garden were reconstructed in 1940.
The first larger scale Phase III excavation was conducted in 1975 and 1976, when areas around the house, as well as the blacksmith structure and forges were examined. The ultimate goal of this work was to provide information that would allow a reconstruction of the Revolutionary War-era forge operation. This excavation uncovered patterns of postholes, three circular features, a possible forge, and a layer of metalworking coal clinker and ash. Archaeologists Ivor Noeël Hume and Robert Foss concluded that the blacksmith shop had evolved in four phases, with a small 20 x× 26 ft. single forge shop expanded with extensions during the Revolutionary War.
A reconstruction of the forge building was completed in 1986, around the same time that salvage excavations around an early 19th-century kitchen took place. Since this kitchen did not date to the Anderson ownership of the property, it was moved to another part of the Historic Area. An earlier kitchen, first located by archaeology in 1931, reinvestigated in 1975 and 2010, and finally reconstructed, likely served a tavern that operated on the property prior to its ownership by Anderson. In 1990 and 1991, College of William and Mary archaeological field schools were held in the backyard of the Anderson House, with the purpose of determining work areas in the yard.
The forge building constructed in 1986 was demolished in 2011 to allow the construction of a group of buildings known as the Anderson Armoury complex. This project included a reassessment of the 1986 design/layout, which concluded that only 4 of the 5 forges were inside the shop, with the fifth free-standing, behind the shop. These reconstructed armoury buildings include a kitchen, tin shop, workshop, storehouses and an armory, reflecting the full range of activities conducted by Anderson and his employees at the end of the 1770s. The Armoury was heavily fortified with a fence around the whole complex that was amplified by a natural ravine to the west. Supplies were kept under lock and key in the storehouses.
References
1975 A Preliminary Report on Archaeological Excavations at the James Anderson House. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library Research Report Series 1226, 1990.
2015 Object Lesson: James Anderson Blacksmith Shop, 1986-2011: An Appreciation. Buildings and Landscapes: Journal of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, Volume 22 (1): 1-9.
