Unique Domed Chamber in Connecticut
by Earl Hill
New England Antiquities Research Association
Unique Domed Chamber in Connecticut
by Earl Hill
This large domed chamber in Northeastern Connecticut may be the only one of its type in New England. Its age has not been determined, and circumstances of its discovery are not known. A number of other stone chambers, of different types and sizes, are in the vicinity.
Photo 1 - Entrance to the Chamber
Set into a hillside, entry is over recently placed stones, and a pile of dirt which drops down to a fairly level floor. The interior area of the chamber is circular, 17 feet in diameter, and the ceiling is a dome of stones layered without mortar to a height of about 9 feet above the present floor level. It was described by James Whittall in October of1991*. He compared it to ancient "beehive" structures in Europe. It had an entry tunnel about six feet long, facing almost due South. The entry tunnel and its overburden were removed a few years ago to enlarge the backyard of a new house. The support wall is new.
Entrance to the Chamber
* Early Sites Research Society BULLETIN, Volume 18, Number 1, page 3. (Jim Whittall also had a model of this chamber in his museum, and that model was donated with other effects to the Univ. of Maine.)
Photo 2 - Rails Above the Chamber
The top of the dome is right behind the flower tub in this photo. The railroad track was built over the rear of the chamber, obviously without the rail engineers knowing about the void below. Passing trains may have displaced ceiling stones, but they ceased running before there was a collapse. In the lower left of this photo is one end of a railroad overpass which let an old road cross below the tracks. An inn used to be at this spot where two roads met. One person has suggested that the chamber was an ice house for the inn, to store ice blocks cut from the river about half a mile down the hill.
Rails Above the Chamber
Photo 3 - Interior Construction
The lowest visible layer includes three large stones set in the western wall. Their lighter colors and special shapes may have some traditional relationship to similar stones in European chambers. The present floor appears to be packed dust, with articles in or upon it from the 20th Century. (A cement block, electric wire with light sockets, a bottle, a metal container, and other debris.)
Interior Construction
Photo 4 - Young Man Holding Lantern
I was guided to this chamber by a family living not far away, who have a chamber on their own property. Their youngest son, Eythan, holds my battery lantern which barely had enough power to look around the domed chamber. If there was ever a ramp or a set of steps from the entry to the floor several feet below, they are not visible now because of the accumulated soil and debris. It would be interesting to have a qualified (and brave) archaeologist work some test squares through to the base of this mysterious structure while it still stands.
Young Man Holding Lantern
Photo 5 - Corbelled Dome
The layers of flat stone which rapidly taper in toward the top were originally placed with each stone horizontal. Jim Whittall said several times that he did not think anyone should go inside now because "the stones are pointing down". Some are visible in this photo, near the capstone at the highest point. The present owners saw no reason to worry, saying that they have driven tractors over top. If any excavation is performed inside, however, a protective structure should be assembled over the digging.
Corbelled Dome
Copyright © 2003 by Earl Hill
New England Antiquities Research Association
