Last updated: July 3, 2025
Place
Rosewell Ruin and Visitor Center
Fairfield Foundation
Quick Facts
Location:
5113 Old Rosewell Lane, Gloucester, VA 23061
Significance:
A National Register site, Rosewell ruin reflects Virginia’s colonial and early American plantation landscape, Atlantic trade, and the legacy of slavery in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Designation:
National Register of Historic Places; Chesapeake Gateways Network Site
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
5 listed
Gifts/Souvenirs/Books, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Parking - Auto, Pets Allowed, Restroom - Accessible
The Rosewell Ruin, a National Register of Historic Places site overlooking the York River, offers a powerful window into the colonial Chesapeake Bay landscape. Once the grandest private residence in British North America, Rosewell was built by the Page family through wealth generated by enslaved labor, agriculture, and Atlantic trade. Today, these evocative brick remains stand as a reminder of the social hierarchies and global connections that shaped early America.
Managed by the Fairfield Foundation, Rosewell Ruin and Visitor Center welcomes visitors to explore exhibits, join interpretive tours, and take part in ongoing archaeology programs. The site’s public digs and artifact displays encourage hands-on discovery, revealing insights into daily life for both the Page family and the enslaved and free African American community who built and maintained the plantation for them and later nineteenth- and early twentieth-century owners until the manor was destroyed by fire in 1916. A new exhibit focused on enslaved quarters will open deeper dialogue around lives often left out of mainstream history.
As a designated Chesapeake Gateways Network Site, Rosewell helps illuminate the region’s complex past and its deep ties to the Atlantic World and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The surrounding landscape remains largely rural, preserving views much as they were in the 1700s. Whether walking beneath the ancient trees or studying artifacts uncovered onsite, visitors are invited to reflect, learn, and return for more.
Learn more at the Fairfield Foundation’s website.
Managed by the Fairfield Foundation, Rosewell Ruin and Visitor Center welcomes visitors to explore exhibits, join interpretive tours, and take part in ongoing archaeology programs. The site’s public digs and artifact displays encourage hands-on discovery, revealing insights into daily life for both the Page family and the enslaved and free African American community who built and maintained the plantation for them and later nineteenth- and early twentieth-century owners until the manor was destroyed by fire in 1916. A new exhibit focused on enslaved quarters will open deeper dialogue around lives often left out of mainstream history.
As a designated Chesapeake Gateways Network Site, Rosewell helps illuminate the region’s complex past and its deep ties to the Atlantic World and waterways of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The surrounding landscape remains largely rural, preserving views much as they were in the 1700s. Whether walking beneath the ancient trees or studying artifacts uncovered onsite, visitors are invited to reflect, learn, and return for more.
Learn more at the Fairfield Foundation’s website.