WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA—The Wren Building is the oldest building on the campus of the College of William & Mary, America’s second oldest institution of higher learning. The college was chartered in 1693 and by the end of the century students were already sitting in the Wren’s halls. It was not the first structure built on the campus, however. Fox News reports that during renovation and preservation work to the Wren Building’s foundation earlier this year, archaeologists rediscovered remnants of an even older structure: an adjacent brick kiln that predates the Wren. It was used to manufacture the building blocks that formed the walls of the university’s first classroom. As the basement of the Wren was dug, the earth and clay were funneled into the nearby kiln to make bricks. This was not, though, the first time the kiln was brought to light. Archaeologists first encountered it in the 1930s, but soon covered it back up again. According to Elizabeth Monroe, codirector of the William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research, there are likely many more archaeological features from the college’s past lurking just beneath the surface of the campus. “Since 1693, buildings have come and gone,” she said. “Pretty much, you stick a shovel in the ground anywhere on campus, and you're going to come up with something that helps tell the story of the university.” To read about a recent discovery from nearby Jamestown, go to "Colonial Companions."
