Behind the Scenes
at Plimoth Plantation

Current articles in this section:

1. Firing Up the Kiln

2. Ordinarie Technology

3. Notes on a Shallop

4. Archaeology at Plimoth Plantation: Key to the Past

5. Maritime Programs at Plimoth Plantation

6. Recreating the Material Culture of Mayflower II

7. Documenting Mayflower II

8. Hands Across the Bay: A 1957 Crewmember Sails Again

9. A New Furnace for Mayflower II

10. The Story and Crew of 1957's Mayflower II

11. Why P-l-i-m-o-t-h?

Ordinarie Technology

by Karen White

In today’s day and age, technology advances faster than a hummingbird can beat its wings. Almost every day there is a new gadget to help us do our jobs, a new appliance for the kitchen counter, a new television taping system to keep us entertained.

The world of the English Colonists (popularly called “Pilgrims”) advanced at a much different pace. Just how slowly technology moved in the 17th century was made clear to members of Plimoth Plantation’s Interpretive Artisan Program in 2002, when they assisted a Maryland outdoor museum in the construction of a period building.

“From 1627 to 1667, technology hadn’t changed, only the context had changed,” Stuart Bolton, Interpretive Artisan and project leader, said. “In Plymouth, people were building at the frontier. This was the toehold. People were building to answer immediate personal needs, such as the need for shelter.

“With Smith’s ordinarie, you have a businessman building a commercial building as an agent of the government. It’s built in an established community, under circumstances different from those in Plymouth Colony. Even so, the building seems to have been built quickly and cheaply.”

The Plantation became involved with Smith’s ordinarie after being approached by Historic St. Mary’s City, an outdoor museum that is using archaeology and research to re-create a 17th-century city. The first settlement in Maryland, the original St. Mary’s City also served as the colony’s capital until 1695.

In 1666, William Smith received a 31-year lease for three acres of land from the colonial government of Maryland under the stipulation that he construct an ordinarie, a stopover where people traveling to the capital on official business could rest, eat and sleep. Smith built the ordinarie before his death in 1668. The building then passed through several hands before burning to the ground in 1678.

Because of their expertise in building 17th-century structures, the Plantation crew was called to assist with the construction. As always, the crew was as accurate as possible in not only re-creating a period building, but also in using the same building techniques employed by the colonists who built Smith’s ordinarie. These techniques were basically the same as the crew uses to re-create the English Village of the 1620s.

Interestingly, had Smith’s ordinarie been built in 1667 in New England rather than Maryland, the crew could have used more modern technology in their recreation efforts. By the 1660s, a number of sawmills were in operation in New England. “A 1660s New England building probably would have had a brick rather than timber chimney, and the range of technological choices available to the builder would have been greater,” Stuart said.

“In the Maryland tidewater, they were still using the two-man pit saw into the 18th century,” Stuart said. “There was a wider divergence between the two colonies, between the more agricultural south and the industrialized north. It would have been more of a jump for us to build something in New England from 1667.”

Although the technology was familiar to the Plantation crew, rebuilding a specific structure from the Chesapeake was not. From the beginning, the town of Plymouth was a successful community. As the town grew, new buildings and streets replaced the old, uprooting the physical evidence of the Pilgrims’ original village. In re-creating a Pilgrim building today, artisans study writings, period style and general archaeological evidence, then design a structure based on all the information.

St. Mary’s City became neglected after the seat of government moved. Places where buildings stood and roads ran became farmland, and much archaeological evidence was locked in the ground. By digging up and studying this evidence, archaeologists can state for certain that the ordinarie measured 20 feet by 30 feet, and that eight posts held up the ceiling. Recovered nails and wood fragments are additional clues left behind for the historians, who designed the ordinarie based on real evidence.

Yet some archaeology raised questions rather than provided answers. Evidence of four posts that formed a 10-foot by 10-foot square off center in the ordinarie’s main room was confusing. The team was puzzled over this post pattern, seemingly too big to be a chimney hearth. After wrangling with the dilemma, Saint Mary’s City historians determined that the ordinarie would mirror a construction design common in Yorkshire, England, where small, heated rooms can be found inside larger rooms in period homes.

Once the two teams settled on the details, construction began. At the Plantation, the crew split and hewed logs, pit sawed boards, and pre-fit the frame before returning to Maryland for the raising. As Maryland workers enclosed the building, the Plantation artisans returned to Plymouth to work on the doors, shutters, floorboards and chimney. They made one more trip to Maryland to install these items and finish the job.

During construction, Willie Graham, an historian from Colonial Williamsburg, was impressed enough to suggest to Garland Wood and his Williamsburg building crew that they visit St. Mary’s City and observe the Plantation crew in action. They did, and offered many positive comments.

“It was gratifying seeing what we do is valued by people other than just the Plimoth Plantation community; that we are respected and valued by a larger community,” Stuart said.

When the ordinarie was finally completed, Stuart was satisfied. “I remember looking at the frame and wanting to take it back to Plymouth with us,” he said. “It’s a really nice building. We put a lot of work into it and it came out very nicely.”

Smith’s ordinarie was built as part of the Crafts Center exhibit; therefore, the artisans working on the project were not restricted in their interpretation to the year 1627. Since they were not role-playing, the artisans could take photographs, notes and measurements, and time the progress of their work. This information has given them a deeper understanding of the 17th-century building process.

There was one more important, unforeseen benefit of the project. Because the work was done as a contract for another museum, the artisans got a taste of what it was really like to be a 1660s construction crew. “We all know that it’s like to hew a log but now we have a better sense of the relationship between a hired carpenter and client,” Stuart said. “Working with the same 17th-century tools and technology as for the Plantation but with someone else’s ideas, helped clarify for us what was possible with this technology, particularly how much work can be achieved. Through this project, we were able to view technology not just in terms of the tools, but also in terms of how 17th-century people approached their work.”

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