ABOYNE – An archaeological dig is taking place on a small plot of land on the grounds of Wellington Place, the property owned by Wellington County by the roundabout near the new Groves Memorial Community Hospital.
Workers have unearthed some artifacts including a medicine bottle, a few tin cups, and an enamelled milk jug, but most significantly have found the footings of a stone house that was built around 1850.
Mike McCready, project manager for the Archaeological Research Associates (ARA), which is conducting the dig, said workers have not found evidence of wood or brick, indicating the home was probably built entirely of stone.
“That would have been a little more expensive, so it was probably a successful farmer” who lived there, he said.
“It’s pretty well preserved. What’s unusual is that the site hasn’t been impacted by road development.”
The land was formerly the McLeister farmhouse site and artifacts are generally from the Euro-Canadian period – from the 1830s through to the 1960s.
Property owners are required by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries to conduct archaeological assessments prior to development in much the same way as environmental assessments must be done.
An archaeological dig at Wellington Place this week, is beginning to reveal the foundation of an old stone farmhouse built around 1850. Photo by Joanne Shuttleworth
“In 2009, archaeological assessments were completed on the county lands at Wellington Place in advance of development,” stated Janice Hindley, Wellington Place administrator, in a press release.
“A stage three assessment identified one small piece of land as an area requiring further research and a stage four excavation and mitigation.
“A stage four excavation is archaeological work done to mitigate development impacts.”
McCready said the county completed a stage three assessment about 10 years ago. Stage four work should be completed in a week or two. Once the site has been examined and artifacts collected, the site will be cleared for future development.
But before that happens, the fieldwork includes recovering artifacts, exposing the foundation, and photographing and documenting what is found.
“We can reconstruct how people would have lived here,” McCready said.
“We’ll give the artifacts to the museum with a bit of a story.”
Hindley said the museum intends to hold an exhibit on the history of the site featuring the items that have been found.
