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This is a photograph of me standing at the
Brandymore Castle historic marker in Arlington
County, VA, winter 2000. On the left is the
Interstate 66 sound wall and on the right you can
just make out the dirt path leading uphill to the
Brandymore Castle site. The bike trail runs past the
opening and you would not know anything is there in
passing by. The actual "castle" is
limestone outcrop atop a hill. The hill contains a
small sub-division of homes around a cul-de-sac in
back of the site. The outcrop has greatly
deteriorated from its glory days in the 1700s from
weathering and abuse. (Photo by Charles B. Knoblock,
Olympus D340R)
Brandymore Castle is a limestone outcrop on top of a
small hill just below Four Mile Run known in
colonial times. Originally the outcrop was larger
than it is now and due to extensive farming most
trees would have been cleared for miles around. The
limestone would have been brilliant in the sunlight
and visible for a long distance in the surrounding
area. The outcrop was known to surveyors and used by
them as a landmark. Today the limestone has
deteriorated due to weathering (there are many
broken boulders in stages of tumbling down the
hillside) and vandalism (evidence of fires, bashed
rocks, etc. from teenage parties).
This landmark was first described in 1724 by
surveyor Charles Broadwater as "The Rock Stones
called Brandymore Castle." Research (chronicled
in "The Rediscovery of Brandymore Castle")
in 1972 established that the natural formation
matched the boundary descriptions on the 18th
century land grants from Lord Fairfax to William
Gunnel, James Going and Simon Pearson, George
Harrison, John Caryle and John Dalton, and Caption
Charles Broadwater. The origin of the name
"Brandymore" is unknown, but this rocky
outcrop resembles the collapsed battlements of an
old castle with Four Mile Run serving as a
moat.---info mostly from Historic Arlington, 1976
the historic marker and other sources. The site is
located at the corner of North Nelson Street and
Four Mile Run. The grants can be seen on my land
grant website whiteoak.
The Castle exists on land once owned by the Gunnell
Family of Fairfax, VA. I am a descendant of the
Fairfax Gunnells. Although not part of my ancestral
line, the Brandymore tract was divided between two
Gunnell sisters. It is an important connection with
my past and my self as I try to orient my identity
in the world.
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