Conclusions
The importance of the Jenkins site cellar hole lies solely in its provision of a valuable group of closely dated artifacts. The excavations failed to reveal either the size of the building or any indication of its original ownership and purpose. The structure does not appear on any known map nor can it be equated with any specifications contained in the Vestry Book of Petsworth Parish or any other documentary source now available. Much local legend and speculation has been considered and regretfully rejected in the absence of any supporting evidence. The site does lie in the Second Precinct of Petsworth Parish and it has been established that the Porteus family did own land therein. Consequently it is quite possible that the Jenkins site was once part of that tract. But it does not necessarily follow that the cellar hole was part of the Edward Porteus family residence.
A terminus post quem of about 1700 for the filling of the cellar hole has been well established on the archeological evidence. The structure itself is represented by the large cellar hole which had been floored and walled with boards and vertical posts, and by the massive chimney at the east end. The absence of any abutting walling, coupled with our inability to find any traces of other foundations, strongly suggests that the building stood on piers or wooden blocks.
The artifacts include a number of extremely interesting objects; but the curious juxtaposition of the large glass stem (figs. 10 and 11) with crude earthenwares, worn-out tools and broken and reused clay tobacco pipes makes it probable that the refuse was derived from different sources. Whereas the iron objects resting on the cellar floor may have been in the building when it was destroyed, it is clear that the large oystershell deposit (and therefore, the glass stem that it contained) must have been brought from elsewhere. It might therefore be deduced that the excavated structure had been a kitchen building or, perhaps, an overseer's house rather than the home of the owner of the glass stem.
The dearth of 18th-century colonial artifacts on the Jenkins property seems to indicate, at best, a less intensive occupation after the destruction of the building that overlay the excavated cellar hole. It seems improbable, therefore, that the existing "Ardudwy" was in existence before the late 18th century.