6461 Mayfield Road · 2014. 6. 20. · 6461 Mayfield Rd . Figure 1: Tremaine’s Map 1858 indicating the ownership of Part of Lot 17, Concession 7, ND Toronto Gore by Thomas Thompson.

L 2-1

Heritaage Repoort Reasoons for HHeritage DDesignatiion

6461 MMayfield RRoad

Maarch 20133

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L 2-2

Profile of Subject Property

Municipal Address 6461 Mayfield Road

PIN Number 14219-0151 (LT)

Roll Number 10-12-0-003-12315-0000

Legal Description PT LT 17 CON 7 NORTHERN DIVISION TORONTO GORE DES AS PT 2 PL 43R-25677 SAVE amp EXCEPT PT 1 PL 43R-25725 BRAMPTON

Ward Number Ward 10

Property Name -

Current Owner Anne C Shaw

Owner Concurrence No

Current Zoning Agricultural

Current Use(s) Agricultural Residential

Construction Date Circa 1845

Notable Owners or Occupants

Thompson Family

Heritage Resources on Subject Property

Building (house) landscape

Relevant Council Resolutions

-

Additional Information -

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1 Current Situation

The property at 6461 Mayfield Road is worthy of designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value or interest The property meets the criteria for designation prescribed by the Province of Ontario under Ontario Heritage Act Regulation 906 for the categories of designphysical value historicalassociative value and contextual value

Located on the southwest corner of Mayfield Road and Goreway Drive 6461 Mayfield Road is located within Secondary Plan Area 49 the Vales of Castlemore North The lands are also part of a Special Study Area and the proposed land use for this property is institutional and limited commercial use

2 Description of Property

6461 Mayfield Road is located on the southwest corner of Mayfield Road and Goreway Drive in the former Toronto Gore Township now the City of Brampton The 432 acre lot currently contains a one-and-a-half storey stone farmhouse and an ancillary structure The house is flanked by vacant fields set back from Mayfield Road and screened by a growth of mature trees A portion of Salt Creek also runs through the property

3 Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

DesignPhysical Value

6461 Mayfield Road is the earliest example of a vernacular stone farmhouse built in the Toronto Gore Township The earliest stone masons in Ontario were French Canadians sent to Kingston to assist in government construction in preparation for the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists in the 1780s Their building materials consisted of the local rubble stone found in bits and chunks near limestone quarries Fieldstone however is the general term for construction using stone that was collected from fields or streams rather than being quarried from bedrock outcrops In southern Ontario its use was most common in the mid-nineteenth century in regions where the bedrock is covered by a thick layer of glacial debris left behind by the retreating ice sheets some 10000 years ago

When it came to stone construction materials and labour were harder to come by than other types which meant that stone buildings were no bigger than they had to be They were equally modest in terms of detailing Very few of these houses were built in the

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area and the structure is relatively unaltered So few structures were built due to the time and efforts required to gather fieldstones transport them to the construction site and organize them according to appropriate shapes and dimensions for placement A great deal of technical innovation and foresight was required to build this house further strengthening its uniqueness in Brampton

Large stones cleared from the land along with trees and brush during the early years of settlement in the Toronto Gore Township provided a ready source of building materials Builders preferred to select stones derived from the Canadian Shield (light coloured granite or dark amphibolite) but settlers were less discriminating in using stones for foundations or barns

Stone was used in two common styles Scottish immigrants preferred to refashion the stone into regular rectangular blocks other immigrants largely of German origin split the stones but otherwise did not refashion their shape In this second case a large amount of mortar was generally required 6461 Mayfield Road is representative of the second style as the house was constructed of irregularly shaped stones and mortar is heavily applied in locations where the stones are not flush It appears that some of the fieldstones have not been split but have been integrated into the cladding as large support members at corners or over window and door openings

The farmhouse is a well-designed one-and-a-half-storey fieldstone clad structure with an offset one-storey wing extending from the rear elevation The house features a square plan with three bays and a side gable roof The front door is centred on the faccedilade with a simple transom The fenestration is modest with 11 windows flanking the front door on the faccedilade and two 11 windows in each gable end of the side elevations The windows feature stone lintels and larger stones are laid at the buildingrsquos corners Each stone in the structure was strategically placed to serve a purpose

HistoricalAssociative Value

Francis Foster received the patent from the Crown for Lot 17 Concession 7 Township of Toronto in the Gore York County Home District Upper Canada on November 30 1832 On November 27 1832 three days before he had the patent Foster sold 50 of the 200 acres to Tomas Thompson 6461 Mayfield Road has been associated with the Thompson family for over a century Thomas Thompson an early settler and farmer in the former Toronto Gore Township purchased the property in 1844 after having immigrated to Upper Canada from England with his wife Frances The area at the time was known as the Hamlet of Tullamore an area named and settled by Irish immigrants Thomas built the stone farmhouse sometime in the mid-to-late 1840s for his growing

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family As most houses listed in the local enumeration district for 1852 were constructed of log the Thompson house is considered to be an early example of stone construction in the Toronto Gore Township

A frame Wesleyan church building was also located on the north-west corner of the property in 1852 as Thompson had sold a small parcel of land to Nathaniel Reed and to the church trustees in 1851 Bramptonrsquos first formal congregation was a group of Wesleyan Methodists who gathered in a private house on Main Street in 1822 As the church became more established they constructed additional buildings for congregations in the townships such as the one located on Thompsonrsquos property The building was removed from the property sometime after 1859

Following Thomas Thompsonrsquos death in 1871 his son Thomas took over the family farmstead The rear one-storey wing was likely added during Thomasrsquo ownership in the 1890s to house the kitchen The property continued to be passed down through the Thompson family until the 1960s

Contextual Value

4 Description of Heritage Attributes

To ensure that the cultural heritage value of this property is conserved certain heritage attributes that contribute to its value have been identified specifically and they include

One-and-a-half storey construction Square plan Fieldstone cladding Three bays One-storey wing projecting from rear elevation Side gable roof Two 11 windows in each gable end 11 windows flanking front door Centred front door with transom Large fieldstones at corners Stone lintels Rural residential character and agricultural setting Frontage is screened by a planting of mature trees

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5 Alteration History and Heritage Integrity

The following are the known alterations to the subject property

Window sash replacement Window casings have been painted

6 Archaeological Potential

The subject property has archaeological potential An archaeological assessment is recommended in advance of any major soil disturbance occurs on this property

7 Policy Framework

In the context of land use planning the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) states that the wise use and management of Ontariorsquos cultural heritage resources is a key provincial interest

The relevant policy statement in the PPS is Section 261 which states that ldquosignificant built heritage resources and significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conservedrdquo

Section 261 is linked to Section 3 of the Ontario Planning Act which stipulates that land use planning decisions by municipalities ldquoshall be consistent withrdquo the Provincial Policy Statements

The policy is also integrated with the Ontario Heritage Act This piece of legislation grants municipalities powers to preserve locally significant cultural heritage resources through heritage designation Decisions as to whether a property should be designated heritage or not is based solely on its inherent cultural heritage value or interest

City Council prefers to designate heritage properties with the support of property owners However Council will designate a property proactively without the concurrence of a property owner as required

The relevant Brampton Official Plan policies are as follows

Section 4913 All significant heritage resources shall be designated as being of cultural heritage value or interest in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act to help ensure effective protection and their continuing maintenance conservation and

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restoration

Section 4915 Priority will be given to designating all heritage cemeteries and all Class A heritage resources in the Cultural Heritage Resources Register under the Ontario Heritage Act

Section 4916 The City will give immediate consideration to the designation of any heritage resource under the Ontario Heritage Act if that resource is threatened with demolition significant alterations or other potentially adverse impacts

These principles are also guided by recognized best practices in the field of heritage conservation

8 Resources

Archaeological Services Inc Cultural Heritage Analysis of the Vales of Castlemore Secondary Plan Expansion Area City of Brampton May 1999 pp 4-5

Archives of Ontario Perkins Bull Families MS 515 Reel 11 Thompson

Brownrsquos Toronto City and Home District Directory for 1846-47 Toronto George Brown 1846

Census Returns Peel County Toronto Gore Township 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 and 1911

City of Brampton Zoning Online Retrieved September 24 2012 from the City of Brampton Website httpwwwbramptoncaenBusinessplanning-developmentzoningPagesZoningOnlineaspx

Heritage Resource Centre (HRC) University of Waterloo

Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Peel Toronto Miles amp Walker 1877

Land Records Brampton Registry Office Lot 17 Concession 7 WHS Toronto Gore Township

Loverseed H (1987) Brampton An Illustrated History Burlington Windsor Publications Inc

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Middleton GV (2011) Use of fieldstone in southern Ontario buildings Raise the Hammer Retrieved November 15 2012 from httpwwwraisethehammerorg article1491use_of_fieldstone_in_southern_ontario_buildings

Ondaatje K and L Mackenzie Old Ontario Houses Agincourt Gage Publishing 1977

Pope JH Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Peel Toronto Walker amp Miles 1877

Tavender G From This Year Hence A History of the Township of Toronto Gore 1818-1967 rpt 1967 Brampton City of Brampton Ont 1983

Tremaine George Tremainersquos Map of the County of Peel 1859

Unterman McPahil and Associates ldquoSummary of Historical Associationsrdquo Field Sheet

Walton George The City of Toronto and the Home District Commercial Directory Toronto Dalton amp Coates 1837

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9 Appendix

6461 Mayfield Rd

Figure 1 Tremainersquos Map 1858 indicating the ownership of Part of Lot 17 Concession 7 ND Toronto Gore by Thomas Thompson

6461 Mayfield Rd

Map 3 Peel County Atlas 1877 Toronto Gore

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Figure 3 Aerial photograph of 6461 Mayfield Road

Figure 4 Aerial map of 6461 Mayfield Road depicting the rural agricultural setting (Brampton Maps)

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Figure 5 Birdrsquos eye view of 6461 Mayfield Rd (Bing Maps)

Figure 6 Facade of the farmhouse at 6461 Mayfield Road

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Figure 7 North faccedilade and east elevation of 6461 Mayfield Road Of note is the simple square plan three-bay faccedilade and fieldstone cladding

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Figure 8 East elevation of 6461 Mayfield Road looking south Of note is the one-storey rear addition

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Figure 9 Contextual view of 6461 Mayfield Road looking south from Mayfield Road Of note are the many mature trees and rural agricultural landscape

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