37: 1495 burnhamthorpe rd. west, slacer cabin 1. description of … - business/37... · 2020. 8....

Inventory Report: 1495 Burnhamthorpe Rd. West, Slacer Cabin

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37: 1495 Burnhamthorpe Rd. West, Slacer Cabin

1. Description of Property Municipal Address 1495 Burnhamthorpe Rd. West Name (if applicable) Slacer Cabin Legal Description CON 2 NDS PT LOT 25 Location of Property The property is located on the north side of Burnhamthorpe Road West, where the road

terminates at its intersection with the Sixteen Mile Creek. The 407 Express Toll Route is located to the north and west.

Ownership Private Access Access granted by owner. Site inspection completed on Oct 8th, 2015 (AB) Current Use Residential, Slacer Cabin is vacant Existing Designation 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 log cabin, historically associated with the Slacer family and the agricultural development of Trafalgar Township.” The property is included in the North Oakville East Secondary Plan.

General Description The property at 1495 Burnhamthorpe Road West comprises a widely setback one-and-a-half-storey, five-bay Georgian home with a two-storey addition, surrounded by an open, grassy lawn and thick tree-line, a large garage, several smaller outbuildings, and the Slacer Log Cabin.

Priority Level Low

Figure 1: Slacer Cabin, 1495 Burnhamthorpe Rd. West (AB, 2015)

Farmhouse

Burn

ham

thor

pe Rd

. W.

Cabin

Pasture

Sixteen Mile Creek

Barn

Pasture

Farmhouse

FrameGarage

Outbuilding

Shed

Burnham

thorpe R

d. W.

Farmhouse

Burnham

thorpe

Rd. W.

Cabin

Pasture

Sixteen Mile Creek

LEGEND

1495 Burnhamthorpe Rd. W.

Cultural Heritage LandscapeInventory Map

Drawing not to scale

Corporation of theTown of Oakville1225 Trafalgar RdOakville, ONL6H 0H3

Watercourse

Site Structures

Vegetation

Assessment Boundary

Building

CHL Study Area

Heritage District

Heritage Trail

Parkland

Park Trail

Road

Cemetery


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2. Key Recommendations Priority = Low

Rationale for priority level:

• Potential for development in surrounding landscape; • All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in current listing.

Recommendations for future action:

• Continue to keep this property Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated);

• Consider updating the entry on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated) to include the whole farmstead; 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:

• Brick entrance gate walls and metal gates; • Log Cabin: The log cabin is built on a rectangular plan with heavy chinking and wood plank siding on upper level. A

brick chimney is located at the rear (north elevation) and doors are located on each elevation; • Farm shed: One storey with gable roof and a long and low profile. Appears to have housed animals at one point; • Main House: One-and-a-half-storey Georgian style house with several additions; • Garage: Large one-and-a-half-storey brick garage, with stairs on south side leading to an upstairs loft. High pitched

gable roof with brick chimney on south side. The north side is stuccoed and the rear (west) has three shed like dormers;

• Large stone fire pit; • Small wooden siding outbuilding with gable roof and currently surrounded by chain link fence located at rear (north)

edge of property; and • An additional outbuilding at the rear (west) of the property was not documented during the site visit.

4. Documentation and Inventory of Natural Form List of Natural Features:

• Area surrounding log house is overgrown with plants; • Behind log cabin is an open field; • Open grass lawn in front (east) of house, with a tree line on north and east side; • A mix of mature trees located throughout property; and • Fallow fields.


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5. Design (Typology) ‘X’ all that

apply Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

Designed Landscape “…clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man.”

X Organically Evolved Landscape

“…results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed in its present form in response to its natural environment”

Relict Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past.”

Continuing Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…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.”

X Associative Cultural Landscape

“…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.”

6. Historical and Thematic Associations The 1806 Wilmot survey indicates that Lot 25, Con II (NDS) was, at the time, set aside as a Clergy reserve. By 1851 William Rorke, a farmer, was living on the property in a one storey log cabin.1 William Rorke was born in Ireland in about 1812 and had at least five children with his wife, Henrietta: William (Jr), Ann, Elizabeth, Mary and Marsella.2

It is, however, possible that the log cabin located on the property was moved to its current position at a later date. Often referred to as the Slacer Cabin, it may have originally been located on the adjacent property owned by James Slacer (Lot 24, Concession II (NDS) who was also living in a one storey log cabin in 1851.3

In 1877 the Map of Trafalgar shows William Rorke’s farmstead, indicating his home and surrounding orchard.

1 Year: 1851; Census Place: Trafalgar, Halton County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11726; Page: 182; Line: 21 2 Ibid 3 Ibid


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Figure 3: William Rourke's farmstead on 1877 map of Trafalgar Township (Pope, 1877)

7. Contextual Associations This property is located along the edge of the Sixteen Mile Creek, which is characterised by a thickly forested creek valley. Agricultural use land is located to the east. The area is included in the North Oakville East Secondary Plan.

8. Evaluation (O. Reg 9/06)

O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

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,

Y

With its concentrated arrangement of mature vegetation, log cabin, Georgian farmhouse, laneway, gates and outbuildings set at the edge of the Sixteen Mile Creek valley, the property may be representative of an early 19th century Trafalgar Township farm.

ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or N Not shown.

iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement. N Not shown.

2. The property has historical value or associative value because it,


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O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community,

Y The property may be associated with the theme of early settlement in Trafalgar Township.

ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or

N Not known.

iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

N Not shown.

3. The property has contextual value because it,

i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area, N Not shown.

ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or N Not shown.

iii. is a landmark. Y This property may be a landmark.

9. Photographic Documentation

Figure 4: Log construction, details (AB 2015)


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Figure 5: Outbuilding (AB 2015)

Figure 6: Main residence, front elevation (AB 2015)


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Figure 7: Main house, south elevation (AB 2015)

Figure 8: Garage/drive shed (AB 2015)


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Figure 9: Field and outbuilding (AB 2015)

10. Analysis & Recommendations Potential Heritage Value:

The property may have heritage value as a representative example of a 19th century farmstead and because of its historical associations with 19th century farming in Oakville. It may also be an early example of a Trafalgar Township farming landscape. Its heritage value will depend on the integrity of the property (the extent to which it retains original elements of a 19th 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 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 ‘low’ priority level is recommended for the following reasons:

• Potential for development in surrounding landscape; • All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in current listing.


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11. Sources Ancestry.com. 1851 Census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc., 2006.

----Year: 1851; Census Place: Trafalgar, Halton County, Canada West (Ontario); Schedule: A; Roll: C_11726; Page: 182; Line: 21

Pope, J.H. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont. Toronto: Walker & Miles. 1877. Accessed online August 2015, from http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php

Trafalgar Township Historical Society Website. Wilmot Survey, 1806. Access online October 2015, from http://images.ourontario.ca/TrafalgarTownship/2703198/data

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