This small shed represents the construction techniques that might have been used at early Charles Towne. It is not a reconstruction of a specific building, and as far as we know there was never an actual building or garden located on this exact spot.
The shed is a blend of English and Caribbean building methods, adapted to locally available materials. Its frame consists of wooden posts set into the earth. The wall on one side is made of wattle (woven saplings) covered in clay daub and lime. On the opposite side it is covered with hand-split oak boards. The roof is made of cabbage palmetto leaves.
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Under two photos of early structures, courtesy of Library of Congress, Historic American Building Survey Collection:
Charles Towne's early buildings were often described as being "all of wood." They may have been covered in split boards, a material used in 17th century Barbados, Virginia and New England. This photograph shows original clapboards on the Pierce House (ca. 1650) in Massachusetts.
In 1682 one observer wrote that Charles Towne's early buildings were constructed with "a sort of lime, made out of oyster shells and clayey soil." This may be a reference to "wattle and daub" construction, pictured above.
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