1. Description of Property

Transcription

1 1. Description of Property Municipal Address Name (if applicable) Legal Description Location of Property Ownership Access Current Use Existing Designation General Description Priority Level 34: 1141 Burnhamthorpe Rd. East, William Secord House 1141 Burnhamthorpe Rd. East William Secord House PT LT 9, CON 2 TRAFALGAR, NORTH OF DUNDAS STREET, AS IN EXCEPT PT 1, 20R6153 ; OAKVILLE The property is located on the north side of Burnhamthorpe Rd. East. Ninth Line is located further to the east, Trafalgar Road further to the west and the 407 Express Toll Route to the north. Private Access was not granted. Photos taken from road, September 16 th, 2015 (AB) Residential-Agricultural Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated). Description: This property has potential cultural heritage value for its historic farmstead, including the house, barns and outbuildings, historically associated with the agricultural development of Trafalgar Township. This property is included in the North Oakville East Secondary Plan. The William Secord House is a former 19 th century farmstead on a square parcel of land. It includes five buildings: a one-and-a-half-storey, wood-frame, Ontario-cottage-style house, clad in vinyl or aluminum siding, with two, one-storey additions at the rear; a large, bank barn behind the house; two large, wooden barns and an additional building (not visible at site inspection) on the north-east part of the property. The land is flat with a small number of tree plantings. Medium Figure 1: 1141 Burnhamthorpe Rd. East (AB, 2015) 34-1

2 Pond Sixth Line Barn Old Pump Fuel Newer Building Manure Pit Field Cell Tower Grainery Field House Pasture Pasture Pond Farmhouse Burnhamthorpe Rd. E. Pond Pasture Corporation of the Town of Oakville 1225 Trafalgar Rd Oakville, ON L6H 0H Burnhamthorpe Rd. E. Cultural Heritage Landscape Inventory Map LEGEND Assessment Boundary Building CHL Study Area Pasture Farmhouse Burnhamthorpe Rd. E. Heritage District Heritage Trail Parkland Park Trail Road Site Structures Vegetation Watercourse Cemetery Drawing not to scale

3 2. Key Recommendations Priority = Medium Rationale for priority level: Potential loss of cultural heritage resources due to neglect; Potential for development of surrounding landscape. Recommendations for future action: Continue to keep this property Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated); and Consider initiating a rural properties study to evaluate and consider protection and planning for farmsteads as a group. 3. Documentation and Inventory of Built Form List of Built Features: One-and-a-half-storey, Ontario-cottage-style house with a centre-gable peak, and a three-bay façade, clad in vinyl or aluminum siding over a wood frame 1, on a stone foundation. A one-storey, rear addition appears to attach to a onestorey garage; A bank barn clad in vertical, wood, plank board with a gable-end roof and a one-storey addition on the west elevation; Two cinder-block barns with gambrel roofs, shed-style dormers on the east and west elevations and a series of additions. Both are visibly deteriorated; An additional outbuilding not visible from road is located behind the eastern cinderblock barn Wood & wire fencing around the property; A gravel driveway accessed through large metal gates; and Hydro posts and hydro line running through the property in a north-south direction, east of the main house. 4. Documentation and Inventory of Natural Form List of Natural Features: Flat topography; Trees including: Lilac, Manitoba Maple, Black Locust and Honey Locust; and Chicory and Queen Anne's Lace plants at the road edge. 1 Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc,

4 5. Design (Typology) X all that apply x X Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape Designed Landscape Organically Evolved Landscape Relict Landscape (Evolved Landscape) Continuing Landscape (Evolved Landscape) Associative Cultural Landscape Description 6. Historical and Thematic Associations clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man. results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed in its present form in response to its natural environment in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past. retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and which the evolutionary process is still in progress. justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic, or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent. The 200- acre parcel comprising Lot 9, Concession II (NDS) was first patented from the Crown to Solomon Day, and the 1806 Wilmot survey shows him as the owner 2 (Figure 3) The 1877 Map of Trafalgar, from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, shows Lot 9 divided into two parcels ; the west half, owned by William Secord, has a building and an orchard ; and the eastern land parcel, owned by Edwin Secord has two buildings and a larger orchard 3 (Figure 4). William Bowman Secord ( ) is listed as a farmer in the 1851 census, and on his death certificate 4. He and his wife Sarah had at least three children: Mary, Rebecca and Edwin. 5 Burnhamthorpe Road was created in the 1850's, likely as a result of increase in land grants between 1840 and More land parcels were settled and subsequently farmed. Among Oakville s early exports were timber and potash, as local farmers undertook the process of clearing their land. By the 1840s and 1850s a great deal of land had been cleared and wheat fields were quickly established, followed by diversified grain crops. Following the crash in wheat price in 1857, fruit, in particular strawberries, began to be farmed commercially. By 1870, the area had more than 300 acres of strawberries. 2 Trafalgar Township Historical Society Website. Wilmot Survey, Accessed online October 2015, at 3 J.H. Pope, Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont., (Toronto: Walker & Miles, 1877). Accessed online August 2015, at 4 Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths, and Deaths Overseas, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc,

5 Figure 3: 1806 Wilmot Survey listing Solomon Day under Lot 9, Con 2 (Wilmot Survey, 1806.) Figure 4: 1877 Township of Trafalgar Map shows William Secord farm (Pope, 1877) 34-5

6 7. Contextual Associations Surrounding Landscape The property is surrounded by open fields to the north, east and west, with farmsteads located on either side. To the south is Burnhamthorpe Road East is a two-lane paved road, lined with trees, fences, hedges, open fields and agricultural land. It is generally flat, with some gentle rolling topography. The area is included in the North Oakville East Secondary Plan. The property may have historical links with the farmstead to the east, as they were both owned by the Secord family during the late 19 th century. 8. Evaluation (O. Reg 9/06) O.Reg.9/06 Criteria 1. The property has design value or physical value because it, i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material, or construction method, ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement. 2. The property has historical value or associative value because it, i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community, Criteria Potentially Met (Y/N) Y N N Y Potential Justification With its flat topography, variety of native trees and plants, and concentrated arrangement of house, barn, outbuildings and laneway, the William Secord property may be a representative example of a 19 th century, Trafalgar Township farm. Not shown. Not shown. The William Secord property may be directly associated with the theme of 19 th century farming in Trafalgar Township. ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community. 3. The property has contextual value because it, i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area, ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or N N N Y Not known. Not shown. Not shown. The William Secord property may have historical links with the adjacent 34-6

7 O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria Potentially Met (Y/N) Potential Justification property to the east, as they were both owned by the Secord family. It may also be part of a larger farming landscape along Burnhamthorpe Road. iii. is a landmark. N Not shown. 9. Photographic Documentation Figure 5: Entrance lane, house and barns. (AB, 2015) 34-7

8 Figure 6: Western elevation. (Town of Oakville, 2009). Figure 7: Bank barn located behind main house (Town of Oakville, 2009) 34-8

9 Figure 8: Western elevation of farm complex. (Town of Oakville, 2009). Figure 9: Barn located to east of main house. (AB, 2015) 34-9

10 Figure 10: Second (most eastern) barn on property. (AB, 2015) 10. Analysis & Recommendations Potential Heritage Value: The William Secord property may have heritage value as a representative example of a 19 th century farmstead and because of its historical associations with 19 th century farming in Oakville. Its heritage value will depend on the integrity of the property (the extent to which it retains original elements of a 19 th century farmstead) in comparison with other farmsteads in the Town. The value may lie in the collection of buildings created for agricultural purposes, and their placement on the site and in relation to the road and fields, more than in individual buildings. Actions: The William Secord property is one of a number of former farmsteads listed on the Town Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest. It may be beneficial for the Town to look at these farmsteads as a group before making decisions about their heritage value and the appropriate means of protection. The Town could consider a heritage designation under Part IV OHA, but this may be an inappropriate tool to protect a Continuing (Evolved) Landscape; such a property may be better conserved through zoning or other planning measures. A medium priority level is recommended for the following reasons: Potential loss of cultural heritage resources due to neglect; Potential for development of surrounding landscape. 11. Sources Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Census of Canada [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009 Ancestry.com. Ontario, Canada, Deaths, and Deaths Overseas, [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc,

11 Ashe, David and Joyce Burnell, Oakville Street Names and Landmarks, (London, ON: Burnell Creighton Publishing, 2007). Burke, Judith, Sixteen Hollow , n.d. Accessed August, Gourlay, Robert, Trafalgar s Story, 1817, in Trafalgar Township Historical Society Newsletter, Summer 2014: 7. Accessed online, September 2015, at Griffin, George A., Oakville: past and present, (Toronto: Griffin & Griffin, 1912). Pope J, H. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont., (Toronto: Walker & Miles, 1877). Accessed online August 2015, at Town of Oakville. Heritage Planning, Planning Services. North Oakville Heritage Resource: Review and Strategy, (March 2010). Town of Oakville, Heritage Register: Section F. Last updated: October 24th, Accessed online at Trafalgar Township Historical Society. Early Ward 5 History. Accessed online, October 2015, at Wilmot Survey, Accessed online October 2015, at