Paths into the past: 19th-century brick walkways unearthed at one of Victoria's oldest homes

Restoration work at Victoria's Point Ellice House has revealed an unexpected brick pathway in the property's gardens that sheds light on Victorian-era life. 

Constructed between 1861 and 1862, Point Ellice House is one of the oldest homes in the city. The national and provincial historic site is known as one of the best preserved examples of an Italianate villa-style design home.

It contains one of North America's largest collections of late Victorian and early Edwardian objects in their original setting, while the gardens surrounding the home are elaborate. 

Kelly Black, the museum's executive director, said work had begun earlier in the year, before the pandemic, to restore the kitchen garden on the property. 

The garden was used for food production and cut flowers. It contained an orchard, a greenhouse and a well.

"It was really dedicated to life here in Point Ellice House, especially for life in the 19th century," said Black.

The garden was in use until the Second World War and had rewilded by the 1960s, when the property passed from private ownership to a heritage site.

Landscaping work in spring and fall revealed that the garden contained more than what met the eye around 20 centimetres under the soil.

"It was a pretty straightforward two-day project ... By the end of the first day, they had uncovered a few bricks. Maybe 20 or 30 bricks all in a nice line," Black said. 

"But by the end of the second day, they'd found that this was a very elaborate brick pathway with two different paths intersecting each other."

In addition to the century-old bricks, some of which came from the historic Baker and Son's Brickyard, were pieces of pottery fragments, glass, animal bones and bits of metal that provide additional context to life during the Victorian era.

"Anytime you uncover something you didn't expect to be there, it's like buried treasure, even if they are just bricks," said Black.

Because it's a heritage site, the restoration work has to be done according to Parks Canada's Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. 

It means carefully recording the context of every brick found and preserving its place in the garden.

"That essentially meant taking each brick up, brick by brick, and placing it just adjacent to where the path would be so we could lay them down as we found them, essentially," said Black.

The site can only be seen through pictures for now, as the museum is closed due to COVID-19, but Black says he hopes it will be able to reopen in May.

Listen to the interview on CBC's All Points West: