Stranica 259 [259]
OCR
GREEN PLAINS RGIN exceptionally pretty excursion ts to take the Mobjack Bay boat at Norfolk or Old Point and steam out through Hampton Roads into the Chesapeake Bay; then on, and up into Mobjack Bay, and explore its tributaries—East, North, West and Severn Rivers. The largest of these and the most beautiful is North River, twelve miles long, and more than a mile wide at its mouth. As the boat turns from Mobjack Bay, into this river, its course carries it very near the point of land on which is situated, in Mathews County, ‘‘Green Plains," the home of the Roys since the latter part of 1700. ‘‘Isleham,” the home of Sir John Peyton, a relative of Mr. James Henry Roy, and his marriage to Elizabeth Booth, of “Belleville,’ Gloucester County, just across the river, seem to have been the inducements to him to leave Essex, the home of his forefather, Dr. Mungo Roy of Revolutionary fame, and erect one of the most attractive and complete establishments in Tidewater Virginia, in a location incomparably beautiful. The river is like an inland lake, and on a bright day the handsome homes are reflected in the water all along the shores, as if in a mirror. Green Plains mansion is of brick, composed of a large central building, of two stories and an immense attic and cellar, with wings on the east and west of one story. A broad hall runs through the house from north to south, with two rooms on either side on first and second floors. [he stairway with two landings, the carved and paneled woodwork, the recessed windows with their broad seats and enchanting cupboards in the sides of the mantels, are interesting architectural features. There were innumerable outbuildings, many of brick and most substantially built; the carpenter's shop, the weaving room, the [158]
