Fort Vancouver Cultural Landscape Report

Site
(continued)

Fort Plain (continued)

North of Upper Mill Road

The development of the ground rising north of the stockade to the upper plateau appears to have been gradual. The earliest known image of at least part of the area is that prepared by Henry Eld, with the U.S. Exploring Expedition, in 1841. This drawing, looking to the northeast across the stockade, shows open ground rising behind the fort, terminating in a forest of firs and other trees; no structures are depicted on the sketch, but it appears this may have been artistic license to provide a backdrop for the center of interest, the stockade. Following this illustration are both 1844 Line of Fire maps--the Peers map and the stockade area map--the Henry Warre sketches and Mervyn Vavasour map of 1845 and the Covington maps of 1846. The 1846-47 Kane sketch shows a portion of this area in the foreground of his sketch, as does the 1846-47 painting attributed to Stanley. The next available views of the site start in 1851, with a sketch by George Gibbs, followed by lithographs and sketches of 1854 and 1855, and army maps of the 1850s.

It is evident part of the upper plateau of Fort Plain was a naturally occuring open space, from a statement by William Tolmie, who noted that the cemetery was located in "fertile upland meadow greatly beautified by wild flowers & trees in flower." [499] The upper plateau was shown in 1850 illustrations as still ringed with undergrowth and forest. The extent to which the Company cleared the land on the upper plateau is unknown; later illustrations depict large, scattered fir trees on what was to become the army garrison's parade ground, and fairly dense low-growing trees in the area below it and west of the road to the Back Plains, extending as far as the Catholic church. What appears to be low forest and undergrowth falls even closer to Upper Mill Road to the west of the church, as depicted on the 1855 Covington sketch of the site. An oak grove stood for a number of years northeast of the Catholic church; it was remarked upon by William Tolmie in 1833, as a "pretty grove of young oaks," and was still noted on army maps in the 1870s. The cemetery site in the 1840s must have been cleared, to some extent, by the Company; by the mid-1850s it was depicted as ringed by trees and containing undergrowth and small trees within its boundaries, the latter possibly due to lack of maintenance.

Both the cemetery and some cultivated fields were in existence north of Upper Mill Road by 1833. The earliest known structure located north of the road was a horse and oxen-powered gristmill, built around 1828, and still standing in 1846. The sequence of building development in this area is somewhat sketchy; by 1846, a number of buildings were located along, or slightly set-back from the road.

It appears that this area's development began with agriculturally-related features, such as fields, the gristmill, and probably storage barns. By the mid-1830s some dwellings may have been built, associated with and just north of Kanaka Village. By the mid-1840s, a new wave of development included construction of a church and schoolhouses. These sequential waves of development appear to have augmented, rather than supplanted, the uses of the site as the years passed. The change in building types may have had some relationship to the development of the road itself; it was almost certainly in existence as some sort of path and wagon road to the east, prior to 1841, as it would have been needed to access the fields east of the future site of the schoolhouses. It must have assumed much greater importance and probably underwent some improvements when the Mill Plain Farm was established in 1841. The road's development to the west probably underwent a gradual transformation from rough path to wagon road, as described by William Tolmie in 1833. As the dairy and piggeries on the Lower Plain Farm and the cultivation of the West Plains Farm developed, the road would have assumed increasing importance. By 1841, according to merchant M.T. Simmons, "...the roads were good from the fort to each of the farms; they were good wagon roads." [500]

Figure 6. This later (1855) sketch by Richard Covington of Hudson's Bay Company and U.S. Army buildings shows the Hudson's Bay Company's cemetery (left, mid-ground); St. James Mission (left, foreground); one of the Company's schoolhouses (Beyond St. James Mission); the Company's garden and orchard, and early Vancouver Barracks structures (upper left).

By 1845, a road may have been located between the intersection of Upper Mill Road and the "river road", and the road to the Back Plains; as shown by Vavsour in his 1845 map, this road ran on a diagonal towards the northeast, and connected to the Back Plains Road just north of the schoolhouses. It may have been established to provide a more direct line from the intersection to the Back Plains, and to avoid the awkwardness associated in passing by the schoolhouses, which the 1844 stockade area map and the 1846 Covington stockade area map show as located within the Back Plains Road path. [501]

Cultivated Fields

In 1833 William Tolmie, en route to a walk on Fort Hill, said there was "...farm steading which is extensive & placed about 300 yards behind & above fort." [502] This reference is almost certainly to the fields shown in the 1844-46 maps and in the background of the Warre drawing of the stockade, north of Upper Mill Road and north and east of the fort. The 1844 stockade area map shows a fenced field of Tares east of the schoolhouses, then under construction. From the scale on the map, it appears the field, roughly a trapezoid, measured about 300 yards along Upper Mill Road, and about 150 yards on its west edge, containing perhaps between 7 and 10 acres. Just east of this field was a complex of barns, in which a threshing machine was located, on a site of about two or three acres.

Both the 1845 Vavasour map and the 1846 Covington farm map show the area of cultivation had expanded beyond what was depicted on the 1844 Peers map; the Vavasour map indicates the field was expanded both north and east of its original boundaries, and that it was fenced, and the Covington map shows fields extending along the southern bluff of Fort Hill in a narrow strip. It has been postulated that the easternmost of these fields were cultivated from early in the farm's development, but the 1844 Peers map does not indicate this, and descriptions of the fire say the area was covered with grass, which was ploughed during the fire to provide a fire break. James Douglas said, "I returned to the Fort, and on Friday morning had casks of water carted out and placed along the woods on Old Fort Hill, and by half past ten we had completed a protective line round the North and East sides of the Plain, by drawing furrows with the plough fifty feet apart and burning the grass on the surface between them, trusting that it would assist greatly, as it afterwards did, in checking the progress of the fire." [503] Thomas Lowe recorded "Most of the men were employed all morning about the Fort Hill, setting the grass on fire, ploughing the ground, and taking other precautions to prevent the fire running when it emerged from the woods." [504] In addition, the 1844 Peers map shows that the area east of the barns was "ploughed and burnt for protection."

It appears that the fields east of the tare field, shown on the Vavasour and Covington maps, were planted after the fire, taking advantage of the ploughing and burning that had been done in a vain attempt to protect the barns. The 1845 illustrations by Warre of the south side of the stockade show what appear to to be the former tare field in the background, on the rising ground. In these graphics, the field is divided by a series of three rail or pole fences running north-south down the hill. The type of crop or crops planted in these fields by the Company until the 1850s, other than the tares noted in 1844, is unknown; an 1850s army map indicates that one of the fields, east of the original tare field, was planted in oats.

It is not known when the meadow to which Tolmie referred--later the site of the army garrison parade grounds--was put into production; apparently it was some time between 1833 and 1849. In 1839 James Douglas reported that "Every acre of land about the place that could bear cropping was put under seed" and that ten acres of "oak land" was cleared for planting the next season. [505] There is no way of knowing where, on the vast acreage within the farm, studded with oaks and firs, the ten acres were located, but if all possible land was in fact cultivated, as Douglas states, it would seem the meadow on the upper plateau must have been put into production in or before that year. Also, it is known from Tolmie and from later army maps that an oak grove was located just south of the meadow. Unfortunately, none of the maps from the mid-40s, with the possible exception of the 1846 Covington farm map--which shows the site as "pasture"--indicate this area was under cultivation. The 1844 Peers map indicates it was a "plain." In April of 1845, Thomas Lowe mentioned that "A gang of Indians have been employed this last fortnight planting Potatoes in the field West of the old Barn," but this description could apply to the "old Barn" which burned, indicating the former tare field, or the small field in the southeast corner of Fort Plain, located south and west of a barn shown on the 1846 Covington farm map. There is, however, some indication that only grain crops were grown in this Fort Plain field, at least by this date. [506] It was not until 1849, when the U.S. Army paid the Company for the loss of about eight acres of a wheat crop on the site where it wished to establish its garrison, that a definite mention is made of cultivation on the meadow site. [507]

Cemetery

In May of 1833 William Tolmie described the funeral of a Company employee:"...The coffin, unpainted, slung on pieces of canvas & thus borne by four men, passing through a pretty grove of young oaks & other trees, we arrived at burial ground which is situated about a gunshot to N. of fort, in a fertile upland meadow greatly beautified by wild flowers & trees in flower...The great want here is the ground is not being inclosed, some of the graves are surrounded with palisades but the greater number are merely covered with stones & logs of wood." [508]

It has generally been assumed that the cemetery Tolmie described was the one shown on the 1846 Covington maps and in later illustrations of the area. However, there is some question regarding its location: two entries in the Catholic church records in January of 1839 refer to burials in "the new cemetery of Fort Vancouver." [509] Because Tolmie is specific in reference to the distance and location of the cemetery in 1833, it appears that either this "new" cemetery was an addition to the earlier graveyard, or was located in close proximity to it. In any case, all maps and illustrations which depict the cemetery, beginning with the 1846 Covington maps, show the cemetery northeast of the Catholic church overlapping the area that was to become the southeast area of the army parade grounds. The 1846 Covington stockade area map shows the cemetery fenced, and divided into two distinct areas; perhaps one of these was the graveyard referred to by Tolmie, and the other the "new" cemetery referred to in the Catholic church records of 1839. Some 1854-55 graphics show a fence surrounding the site, which is depicted as full of undergrowth and trees, but no fence line is shown dividing the area. The Covington watercolor of 1855 shows only a partial, zigzag fence, along the east and north boundaries, and what appears to be a road entering into the cemetery from the north-south road which ran by the Catholic church. In some illustrations, the graves do appear to be palisaded, as described by Tolmie.

Structures

Gristmill

Some time around 1828-29 a flour mill was built north of Upper Mill Road, across from the Company's future orchard site, probably one of the first few buildings erected north of what would become Upper Mill Road. It was apparently operated by both horses and oxen. In 1835 the Reverend Samuel Parker said the mill was "...worked by ox power, which is kept in constant operation and produces flour of excellent quality..." [510] It apparently continued to operate, grinding all the company's grain, until 1838-39, when it was replaced by the water-powered mill built on the north bank of the Columbia near the sawmill, about six miles east of the stockade. The shift to the new mill coincides with the Company's establishment of the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, and the increasing wheat production at the post and in the Willamette Valley. This older mill continued to stand until at least 1846. It is shown on the 1844 stockade area map, and on the 1846 Covington maps; in both maps it appears to be slightly larger than the beef store within the stockade, about thirty by ninety feet in plan. No known three-dimensional illustration of the building exists.

Barn

Barns on the Fort Vancouver farms were generally used to store produce after harvest and feed for livestock during the winter. By 1844, as the farm was approaching its maximum yields, there were barns located adjacent to or near all cultivable fields on all farms. The earliest mention of a barn on Fort Plain is when John Warren Dease, arriving at Fort Vancouver in the fall of 1829 seeking medical attention, noted on September 5 in his journal: "Men building a temporary bake house, others at a barn." [511] In 1833, when listing agricultural laborers at Fort Vancouver, John McLoughlin noted that two were employed "at the barn." [512]

There is no record of a granary or storage facility for grain within the stockade until 1838-39, the date of construction of the granary seen in the maps of the stockade of the mid-1840s. It appears that harvested grain was stored in the various barns on the farms until the stockade granary was erected. [513] James Douglas, in March of 1838, reported to George Simpson that "...it long since became a desederatum with us to secure independently of the rising crop, a full years provisions in advance, and it is now attained, as our barns contain a sufficient quantity of the more useful kinds of grains to meet the home and outward demand, at a reasonable calculation, for the next eighteen months." [514] His statement implies that harvests were stored in the Company barns up to that date, at least. Also in 1838, the unhappy Reverend Herbert Beaver, in one of his letters to Benjamin Harrison, said, "If I were to be asked where our farm is, I really could not tell, a stockyard redolent with mice, and a considerable quantity of dilapidated fences, being the only symptoms of it...I see no advantage in being able to boast of raising so many thousand bushels of different kinds of grain per annum, and having so many thousand bushels in store (unthrashed), unless the grain can be usefully or profitably disposed of..." and that stored grain...after lying for several years in stack, not to reckon the quantity destroyed by vermin, becomes from dirt almost unfit for use, as our bread at sundry times has testified. If thrashed, and kept in granaries, it would not spoil in the same manner..." [515]

It seems possible that the barn referred to by Dease and McLoughlin--the latter mentioned only one barn--was one of the barn buildings which can be seen north and east of the stockade in the 1844 stockade area map. There is no direct evidence to indicate where on Fort Plain fields were first cultivated, but it seems probable that agricultural activities began closest to the fort, where the soil was always reported to be "good," and that development gradually radiated outwards from it. If this was the case, then agricultural implements- harrows, ploughs, and so forth--a place for threshing grain for processing in the gristmill north of the stockade, and for storing produce and seed--several thousand bushels of barley, wheat and peas by 1830--must have been situated near the stockade, where the material could be kept under the eye of the farm managers. The location of the barn complex known to exist by 1844 north of Upper Mill Road appears to be the logical location for the farm's first barn, both in its proximity to the stockade, to the fields surrounding the stockade, and to the gristmill, built in 1828-29.

It appears that at least by 1838 this complex was in existence. In a report submitted to the U.S. Senate in April of 1838, it was noted that "Outside, and very near the fort, there...[is] a large and commodious barn, and seven buildings attached thereto." [516] Reverend Beaver's reference to a "stockyard redolent with mice" could apply to this complex. Thomas Farnham, at the post late in 1839, noted that there were a number of long sheds, "used for storing grain in the sheaf," near the barn "at the back and a little east of the fort." [517] The 1844 stockade area map shows five structures within the complex, although the 1844 Peers map shows only three. According to the Catholic priest, M. Bolduc, in 1844 there were barns and three floors for threshing grain; two or three of the structures referred to in the Senate report could have been sheltered under one roof. [518]

In 1838 Douglas reported to London that he was planning to build a threshing machine, which he did the following year, as he reported in 1839 to London construction of a "movable threshing machine, on the excellent model sent us this year (from England) by the Vancouver." [519] The machine was apparently stored in the barn north of the fort. Farnham, late in 1839, noted that the barn contained "a mammoth threshing machine." [520] Fathers Demers and Blanchet, who arrived at Fort Vancouver in the fall of 1839 noted that grain on the farm "...is cut with scythe and cradle; and an apparatus for flailing is transported from one barn to the other immediately after the harvest in order to save the grain from a prodigious number of mice which leave only the straw in the sheaves." [521] There were at least two earlier threshing machines in use on the farm: George Allan noted the presence of such a machine in 1832, and two years later, a new one was in operation, according to John Work, who wrote Edward Ermatinger, "A thrashing mill which he [McLoughlin] has had built this winter has been some time at work..." [522] In 1836 William Slacum reported seeing a "large threshing machine." [523] It is possible--perhaps even probable--that these were in use in one of the structures in this complex. By 1844 the complex included storage for "...a number of iron screens and agricultural implements," as noted by M. Bolduc. [524]

The fire of September, 1844, swept through the complex, despite the precautions taken by James Douglas by placing "casks of water...all around our Barns here, to be used as the occasion might require..." [525] Clerk Thomas Lowe recorded in his journal on September 16, that "A party of men set to watch the Barn behind, and another the barn on the lower plain. Carting water all night." [526] On September 27, however, "...the conflagration, driven before a strong East wind, reached the verge of the forest, and burst upon the Plain with tremendous fury...Clouds of ashes and burning leaves, falling at an incredible distance...carrying destruction to every object around. The Barn was in consequence almost instantly wrapped in flames...a spark from the woods behind set the Barn in a blaze, when there was only an Indian present, and in an instant the whole was in flames. The few who were in the Fort immediately got wet Blankets ready, and put themselves in positions where the sparks could be most easily extinguished. Meantime Mr. Douglas, Mr. Lewis and Mr. K Logan accompanied by all hands from the Old Fort Hill made all haste to the Barn and did all they possibly could in extinguishing the fire, which by this time had run to the camp..." [527]

M. Bolduc later reported that the barns and the three threshing floors were "consumed in the wink of an eye." [528] James Douglas reported that "The quantity of grain in the straw destroyed at the Barn is computed at about 3000 bushels of oats, pease & other grain, which I regret most particularly on account of the provender it would have supplied throughout the winter for our working cattle."

Later, merchant M.T. Simmons stated that "No attempt [was] made to renew improvements burnt on the farm back of the fort...I was told by agent in charge a large barn burnt at the same time...I think the largest built was at least 100 by 40 or 50 feet wide two stories high, built in Canadian style..." [529] From the documentary evidence and the 1844 maps, it seems that the entire complex burned, however, it appears Simmons was incorrect in noting that no efforts were made to rebuild on the site. Lieutenant Vavasour noted the presence of a barn in approximately the same location as the earlier complex on his 1845 map of the farm, and it can also be seen in the 1846 Covington farm map. It is probable that this structure was one of the barns listed in the 1846-47 inventory. Dr. Henry Tuzo, at the fort between 1853 and 1858, stated that a "large" barn was located north of the stockade. [530] Because the structure is not depicted on U.S. Army maps from 1854 onward, and because Tuzo noted that the barn was later "burnt," it appears this structure was demolished around 1853-54.

Ryan's

The 1846 Covington stockade area map shows a structure east of the gristmill, labeled "Ryan's." It is presumed to be a dwelling. It is not present on the 1844 stockade area map, nor on Vavasour's 1845 map. An 1851 sketch by George Gibbs shows a small gable-roofed building that appears to be this structure, from its location, but no army maps from the 1850s show the building. It appears, then, that the structure was built late in 1845 or in 1846, and that it stood less than a decade. It is not known at present who Ryan was. The only Ryan recorded in Catholic church records during the decade of the 1840s was William Ryan, a naturalized American citizen who aggravated the Company late in the decade by claiming a portion of Fort Plain, including some of the Company's cultivated fields. If the structure was occupied by William Ryan, it is not clear why he was allowed to build--or live--there, since there is no indication he was a Company employee. It may not have been a Company building. [531]

Stable

A structure north and slightly east of "Ryan's" is delineated on the 1846 Covington stockade area map. As with the Ryan dwelling, the stable is not shown on the 1844 and 1845 maps, and because of later documents, it is not apparent that this was originally a Company structure. In 1849 the U.S. Army rented the structure from the Hudson's Bay Company, which listed the building in its rental rolls as a "private stable near the barracks." A small gable-roofed building which can be seen in an 1851 George Gibbs sketch may be this structure.

Old Fort Hill

After November of 1845, there was at least one structure situated near the site of the original fort on the bluff above Fort Plain. "Dundas' Folly," or "Dundas' Castle" was built by the crew of the Modeste, which was anchored at Fort Vancouver from November of 1845 until May of 1847. A number--if not all--of the officers of the ship lived ashore, including Captain Baille, who was noted earlier as occupying the "new office" within the stockade. The structure was named for Adam D. Dundas, an officer on the ship, who, according to Thomas Lowe, lived there in July of 1846, when he gave a dinner at his house. [532] Army officer Theodore Talbot visited the the site in June of 1849. It was, he said "...on a high hill, the back ridge of the valley. It is a small octagon shaped log house with a pointed roof covered with canvass, around an enclosure with shrubs planted. It was built by an officer of the B.S. Modeste, here from Oct. 1845 to June 1847." [533] Another structure built by the Modeste officers in the vicinity of Dundas' Folly was a " rectangular arbor" on a "picturesque and shady spot adjoining fort hill," built in April or May of 1846, and called Mosquito Grotto. [534]

Schoolhouses

As noted earlier, the "Owyhee Church" within the stockade served as a school building for Company children between 1839 and around 1847; in the mid-1840s James Douglas supervised the construction of two new school buildings. In the 1846-47 building inventory, two fifty by forty foot buildings outside the stockade were listed as schoolhouses. The structures can be seen in the 1844 stockade area map, which indicates that construction had begun on them at that time, but as late as 1849 they were still unfinished, as noted by U.S. Army quartermaster Rufus Ingalls, who rented them for military use. They were located just east of the road which led to the Back Plains from Upper Mill Road: two hip-roofed, two-storied structures. Neither the 1846-47 painting attributed to Stanley nor the Paul Kane sketch of 1846-47 indicate the grounds around the buildings were enclosed during this period, although they were fenced by 1851, as can be seen in a George Gibbs sketch and in drawings and a lithograph done in 1854-55. Also visible in the Gibbs is a shed-roofed addition to the easternmost building, with eaves that appear to extend almost to the ground. The structure is not indicated on the 1846 map, nor can it be seen in the 1846-47 illustrations, and it is possible it was an addition made by the army in or after 1849.

Employee Dwellings

The 1846 Covington stockade area map shows three dwellings to the west of and in the immediate vicinity of St. James church, along Upper Mill Road. The dwellings were clearly part of Kanaka Village, but because of their siting, north of the road, they are discussed here. Immediately to the west of the church was a house belonging to "Proulx," one of two apparently related French-Canadian employees of the Company named Proulx--Charles and Francois. West of that was the Lattie house, with an enclosed garden, noted as burning in the 1844 fire by Thomas Lowe, and adjoining it to the west was a second dwelling and garden identified as Duchenee's. Scotchman Alexander Lattie served as an officer on the Company's coasting vessels. Rocque Ducheney (Duchenee) was a French-Canadian who later operated the Company's store at Point Chinook. When Lowe referred to the fire burning in the vicinity of the stockade in 1844, he noted that one of the gardens burned was that belonging to a "Baron." Charles Baron was apparently in charge of construction crews at the fort, and is mentioned several times in Lowe's journal as in charge of a crew building or dismantling structures in 1844-46. It appears that Baron lived in either the Ducheney or Proulx house until some time in 1846. [535]

The date of construction of these buildings is not known: all can be seen on the 1844 stockade area map, prior to construction of the church. All of the aforementioned employees were working for the Company in the early 1840s, with the possible exception of Francois Proulx, who was at Fort Vancouver at least by 1847. [536] As noted in the Kanaka Village section, not much is known about occupancy patterns within the village or its specific development.

As noted above, the Proulx house may be the structure seen in the 1851 Gibbs sketch of the Catholic church, and is almost certainly the gable-roofed building just west of the church in his sketch looking northeast in 1851, within the zigzag enclosure of the Catholic church grounds. The Lattie and Ducheney houses can also be seen in this sketch, behind a fence of closely-set vertical pickets. The 1846 Covington stockade area map indicates each of these dwellings was enclosed by a fence, and Lowe refers to the gardens of Mrs. Lattie and Baron in 1844, during his description of the fire. By 1851 Gibbs shows fairly tall trees in the front yards. The 1854-55 illustrations also show enclosed front yards, with paths leading from openings in the picketwork fence to the front doors, and what appear to be plants in rows in the front yards, probably a garden. Behind both houses are taller trees and shrubs. The pattern of enclosure of employee dwellings, can be seen in five dwellings within the village south of Upper Mill Road on the 1846 Covington map.

St. James Mission

Catholic priests Francois Norbert Blanchet and Modeste Demers arrived at Fort Vancouver in November of 1838, under a cooperative agreement between the Bishop of Juliopolis at Red River in Canada and George Simpson. Fort Vancouver served as headquarters for the priests, but as missionaries, they were in residence for only a short period each year; when two additional priests arrived in Oregon Country in the fall of 1842, apparently one missionary was more or less stationed at the post year-round. At first services were held in the chaplain's kitchen/schoolhouse within the stockade. By 1839, the Company had set aside one of the original stockade store buildings to be used as a church, both by the Catholics and by Protestants. The structure was generally considered to be "unworthy," and by 1844 or 1845 the Company had given Father Blanchet permission to build a new church on land north and west of the stockade. [537]

The structure is indicated on the 1845 Vavasour map. In the winter of 1846-47, when the inventory of buildings and structures at Fort Vancouver was prepared at Sir George Simpson's instigation, two structures outside the stockade were listed as associated with the Catholic church: the New Catholic church, and "one dwelling adjoining Cath church, ceiled, 30 x 21 feet." The latter apparently served as a rectory for the church. [538] The church, completed in the winter of 1845-46 and dedicated on May 30, 1846, was named St. James the Greater, and was, according to Thomas Lowe, "one of the most respectable buildings about the place." [539] The building was erected at Hudson's Bay Company expense.

The building and, from its footprint, the rectory, are shown on the 1846 Covington stockade area map. The building was a two-story gable-roofed structure, with a twelve-foot wide interior gallery and an angled apse at its north end, with a shed-roofed addition in the rear. The attached rectory, to the east, was a one-story structure with a gabled roof and a shed-roofed addition on the north. The building's north elevation is illustrated in an 1851 sketch by George Gibbs, which also shows that by that year a portion of the grounds around the structure had been enclosed with a zigzag fence. A small lean-to north of the church has been tentatively identified as the bellringer's hut, or a storeroom. [540] The sketch also shows a gable-roofed building to the west of the church, probably a Company employee dwelling identified on earlier maps as occupied by one of the Proulx family. From later 1854-55 illustrations, it appears as if there were some deciduous trees located on both the east and west sides of the church.

It is not documented why this particular site was selected for the church location, although it seems likely its proximity to the village was one factor, and the need for access to principal roads leading off the farm, and to the river, may have been another.