Essex County Seal





Brockenbrough-McCall House: There was a 20 foot square house here in 1682 when Edward Hill Sr. bought Lot 1 in the original Town plat. Archibald McCall, a Scotch merchant of the Town, bought this lot in 1763 and proceeded to build the present house.

Its Georgian style together with its exquisite exterior and interior trim show the work of a master builder. William Buckland, who did Gunston Hall for Mr. Mason, was not only in the area at the time of the building but also appeared in Essex Court as a witness for Mr. McCall in 1766, when Mr. McCall entered Court action for a claimed riot about the Stamp Act which had occurred at his home.

It is believed that William Buckland did the wood work and trimming for this house. A black marble mantel in the drawing room was shattered by the shelling from a British gunboat in the Rappahannock River during the war of 1812 but was put together again and is still in use in the room.

After the War Between the States, Mrs. Judith Brockenbrough McGuire conducted a girl's schoo1 here. The Brockenbrough and Chinn families owned and lived here for many years. In 1927 they sold the property to St. Margaret's School where it is now being used as a reception center for Admission and Public Relations offices. The house has been extensively restored and reopened in 2005.

An account of the British Raid from the "Diary of a Southern Refugee" - go to page 288

 






Brockenbrough House:
An Endangered Gem of Colonial Tidewater
History and Architecture

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View Details of the Six Brockenbrough House Fireplaces
     
     

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