Cemetery Landscape

Cemetery Landscape. . , "Ha-Ha" , The fence you see surrounding the cemetery was not an original part of the cemetery in the 18th century. , Instead, the Prestons had a ditch dug out that you can still see surrounding the cemetery that was called a "ha-ha". Ha-Has are a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier while keeping an uninterrupted view of the landscape. The Prestons implemented this design to keep cattle and other livestock out of the cemetery. Other known uses of "ha-ha” fencing are at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello in his "fruitery” and at Washington's Mount Vernon between the gardens and sheep paddock. The ha-ha fence here at Smithfield is the most westerly one known to exist. Please note, at least two enslaved graves are located outside the protection of the ha-ha fence. , Double-Stacking of Graves , Many of the husband and wives, as well as sets of sisters were buried on top of each other. The Prestons most likely had this done to save space in the cemetery due to the rather small size of the cemetery, and just the amount of people who were in the family. Another reasoning for them double-stacking graves is because , Trees and Vegetation , Many of the trees and stumps in the cemetery are oaks, which have been historically known to mark cemeteries. A couple of these trees are roughly 150 years old. Periwinkle can also be found in the cemetery which was used as ground cover to help control erosion of newly dug graves. The American Boxwood that is in the cemetery is also 150 years old. Boxwood's are another marker of cemeteries.