Attic artifacts reveal Hall's history

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has owned Drayton Hall for more than 35 years, and it figured it was finally time to get around to cleaning out the attic.

Carter Hudgins, director of preservation at Drayton Hall, cites several reasons why.

First, removing the scrap wood and other debris will help reduce the amount of flammable material that could fuel a fire.

Second, clearing out the attic is expected to minimize the amount of dirt and dust that trickles down to the floors visited by the public. These spaces are difficult to clean because of Drayton Hall's meticulous determination to preserve its current paint and other surfaces.

Finally, the careful removal and study of the attic's contents can shed more light on the house's construction and the past lives of its occupants.

As Hudgins walks up the narrow curving stairs to the attic, he explains that all the material is being saved and sifted through, not simply tossed out.

"It really is an archaeology site," he said. "We're figuring out where everything is and how it came to be here."

The attic clean-up is the coup de grace of Drayton Hall's annual deep cleaning, which aims to remove dust, grass, dirt and mud daubers' nests

Some of the stuff being removed from the attic really is junk, such as the rolled plastic stored up here in recent years to have on hand in case of a bad storm. The summer heat gradually has shredded the material though, and Hudgins now calls it "Easter grass."

But there's some good stuff, too.

For instance, the first few days of the cleaning revealed an old cork to a wine bottle and a remnant of an old shoe. Two other shoes and a large remnant of what appears to have been a leather ball also had been found earlier.

Hudgins said these materials are well preserved by having been left in a dry attic for more than a century. While it's common to find wine bottles during archaeological digs, far fewer corks or shoes are uncovered because the water disintegrates the organic materials over time.

Mostly, though, the attic contains old building materials, scraps of wood and remnants from the two wooden roofs and one slate roof that predated the house's current metal roof.

There also are chunks from the original plaster ceiling and lead flashing materials and ceramic tiles.

Hudgins said so much debris has trickled down the house's walls during the past 265 years that contractors who recently removed baseboards on the second floor likened the rush of material to a slot machine jackpot.

Digging out all the debris from the attic in a careful fashion is expected to take many more weeks, even months.

"We will be slowly working on this, weather permitting," Hudgins said. "August is certainly not the month to be up here."

Robert Behre may be reached at 937-5771 or by fax at 937-5579. His e-mail address is rbehre@postandcourier.com, and his mailing address is 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403.