Keswick Vineyards is located at the historic 400-acre Edgewood Estate in Keswick, Virginia. The land was part of the original 1727 Nicholas Meriwether Crown Grant that comprised nearly 18,000 acres on the east side of the Southwest Mountains. George Barclay Rives, a direct descendent of the original grantee, built the current residence in 1911. He served in the U.S. embassies in Germany, Austria and Brazil, negotiated exchanges of prisoners of war during World War I, and was decorated by the French, English and German governments.
The property was the site of two important historical events, one during the Revolutionary War and the other during the Civil War. On June 4, 1781 Captain Jack Jouett rode 40 miles through the night from Cuckoo Tavern in Louisa County to Charlottesville to warn then Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Legislature of the approach of the British troops.
Jefferson and the legislators had left Richmond because of British General Benedict Arnold’s raids. British Colonel Banastre Tarleton had been ordered to follow them. Eager to capture the Americans, Tarleton covered the last seventy miles in twenty-four hours. When twenty-seven year old Jack Jouett spotted the troops in Louisa County, he immediately left at 10 o’clock at night, choosing hilly terrain rather than the main highway for his route to Charlottesville.
Tarleton’s troops arrived at Castle Hill, the original tract of land to which Edgewood Estate belonged, just after dawn on June 4, 1781. Legend has it that Dr. Thomas Walker, the owner of Castle Hill, convinced Tarleton and his troops to stay for breakfast, thus delaying their march to Charlottesville. It is likely that Tarleton stayed longer than the half-hour he later claimed, because by the time the troops reached Monticello and Charlottesville, Jefferson and the legislature had escaped.
Almost one hundred years later, Edgewood Estate became the stopping point during another American War. Confederate General James A. Longstreet was ordered to move his troops from East Tennessee on April 7, 1864 to Charlottesville to prepare for the Battle of the Wilderness. Because the railroads could only transport 1500 men a day, the troops were slow to reach Albemarle County. The Confederates detrained at Charlottesville and were then marched to various camp sites, including Edgewood Estate.
In addition to infantry, artillery units were also present. Horse-drawn wagons carried personal baggage, provisions, ammunition and other equipment and supplies to the camp sites. Historians believe that just days before the movement toward the Wilderness, Longstreet’s men were reviewed by General Robert E. Lee. William C. Rives, the owner of Edgewood during the Civil War, received $423.33 for compensation for damage to his land and trees cut for fuel by the troops.
When the Schornbergs learned of the property’s connection with Longstreet’s troops, they arranged for Civil War historian William Leigh of Hamilton, Virginia to conduct a metal detector search of the cleared land and wooded areas. During the 1960s the area’s history was uncovered by Civil War relic hunters who found discarded camp equipment, dropped bullets, uniform buttons, and personal items including mechanical pencils and belt buckles. Approximately 10,000 Confederate troops camped throughout the woods and open land along Louisa Road, from the vicinity of the Edgewood tract eastward to the intersection of Route 15.
In more recent years, Edgewood Estate has been the home of singer-songwriter Art Garfunkel and movie director Hugh Wilson. Today Edgewood Estate finds itself home to one of Virginia’s most promising agricultural industries — viticulture.
History of Keswick area
The linkage between America’s early development and Keswick, Virginia is well founded. During colonial times, the Keswick area was home to a number of prominent citizens and served as a vital corridor between Charlottesville and Orange. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison frequently passed through this part of Virginia, along with other well-known Albemarle county citizens including James Monroe, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
Keswick was considered the “western frontier” during the first half of the 18th century. In an effort to expand the crown’s influence and land holdings, the King of England granted large tracts of land to a few foremost colonists, including surveyor Peter Jefferson, the father of Thomas Jefferson. In 1744, Albemarle County was established in honor of the Earl of Albemarle, the crown-appointed Governor General of the Colony at the time. These immense grants of land were soon divided and subdivided, forming numerous plantations at the foot of the Southwest Mountains. (Keswick Vineyards is located on the grounds of one of these generous property endowments.)
In 1735, King George II granted Nicholas Meriwether a tract of nearly 18,000 acres, running along the east side of the Southwest Mountains between the present-day Keswick post office and Route 33 in Gordonsville. Dr. Thomas Walker completed the main house known as Castle Hill in 1764. A close friend of George Washington and the Jeffersons, Dr. Walker was an accomplished citizen who served as representative in the House of Burgesses and explored the Cumberland Gap, the first “doorway to the west.” Dr. Walker was also an innovative farmer who grafted the Newton pippin from New York onto the wild Crabapple of Virginia to produce the famous Albemarle pippin.
The Virginia Central railroad extended its line in 1849 and crossed an estate named Keswick. Owned by Rev. Thornton Rogers, the Keswick estate was named after the home of the English poet Southey, in Cumberland County, England. That same year the local post office was moved to what became known as the Keswick Depot. After World War II, the Keswick Depot was relocated after the railroad tracks were realigned. The newer depot was featured in the 1956 film Giant, starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, but all depot operations ceased by 1967.
Governor James Barbour, who resided in Orange County at the tip of the Southwest Mountains, wrote in 1835, “Let us, the inhabitants of the South-West Mountains, rejoice and be grateful that our benefits greatly preponderate over our ills. And so far as my testimony goes, resulting from actual observation of near one-third of the entire circumference of the earth, I feel no hesitation in declaring that I deem them the most desirable abode I have ever seen.”
Barclay Rives family
The appearance of Keswick has changed little over the past 250 years, thus allowing the area to retain its colonial charm. The estate owners of today continue the traditions of their forefathers. Many local landowners are avid foxhunters and members of the esteemed Keswick Hunt Club. Keswick Hall, formerly owned by Lord Ashley, is the local country club set on a 600-acre estate. The recent addition of Keswick Vineyards complements the area’s prestige, while maintaining its rural appeal. Photos courtesy of Barclay Rives.