Oldal 203 [203]
ROCK CASTILE
HE plantation on the upper James River, in Gooch¬
land County, from which this garden takes its name,
was part of a grant of land from the crown to
Tarlton Il leming and was settled between 1725 and
1730. Colonel Willam Byrd in his " Progress to
cel! the Mines’ mentions a visit to Tuckahoe when he
met Mistress Fleming (born Mary Randolph of Tuckahoe), who
was about to join her husband at Rock Castle, "thirty miles
farther up the river, in a part of the country little settled and but
lately redeemed from the wilderness."
The original dwelling was an English cottage of weather¬
boarding, high brick foundations, enormous brick chimneys and a
dormer roof, copied from the south wing of Tuckahoe, the Ran¬
dolph home built about 1689 or 1700. Scottish names were given
to several of the plantations in this vicinity, such as Dungeness,
Snowdon, and Ben Lomond, but Rock Castle seems to have been
chosen on account of the extraordinary conformation of the rocks
and cliffs which form the sides of the very high hill that Mr. Flem¬
ing selected for his home.
The James River makes a bend at this point and can be seen
from three sides of the grounds; on a clear day towards the western
horizon stretches a long range of outlying peaks of the Blue Ridge,
presumably forty miles away. From the south lawn the grounds
slope quite precipitately towards the river, and there one finds a
grove of handsome trees, huge boulders of rock and a natural
cavern. Many generations of children and of older folk have
enjoyed its cool shade within the sound of the rushing water of
James River near by. Ihe grounds on the north and west are
very extensive, part rolling and part a handsome plateau planted
in English elms principally, but with tulip and Lombardy poplars;
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