Bacon's Rebellion

The name of the house is derived from an event in 1676. That year, Nathaniel Bacon and his men led an uprising in Virginia against the Colonial government. After burning Jamestown to the ground, Bacon's forces retreated to Gloucester. He sent William Rookings and seventy men to establish a stronghold in Surry County. Rookings took over Arthur Allen's home and occupied it for four months. The men ate Allen's cattle and depleted his stock of wine. A pit full of broken wine bottles and bones suggest occupation by Rookings and Bacon's rebels.

The Rebellion came to an end when Bacon died of an illness at his headquarters in Gloucester. His men deserted their posts at the house allowing the family to return. Allen, a supporter of the colonial governor William Berkeley, later sued the men who had occupied the house for the damages incurred. The name Bacon's Castle is not one Allen would have endorsed. However, by the late nineteenth century, the name became popular.