Virginia Rambler: Tales from the Amberleigh Woods, Part 1

In my corner of Fairfax County, there are lots of small patches of woods. When I walk in these woods, I almost always find something surprising. A box turtle, an abandoned satellite dish, a makeshift kids' clubhouse. I seldom see other people (and when I do, we always spook each other).

The Amberleigh woods are no exception. In the midst of these woods are the ruins of an old brick structure. The roof is long since gone, and the brick walls are tumbling down. The highest remaining wall is about 5 feet high. The building itself is about 24 feet by 30 feet. None of the bricks I've examined are branded.

The interior of the building has filled in with dirt and leaves, so it's difficult to say whether we're seeing the base of the walls or a section midway up. Clearly it's been years since the structure was abandoned. Trees are now growing in the center of the structure.(Click this or any other picture to see a larger version.)

Sadly, local kids have graffitied the walls. I'm glad these youths are out in the woods getting some exercise, but I wish they'd restrain their 'artistic' impulses.

Here's one corner of the building.

This feature is near the center of the building. (In this photo, we're looking straight down at the floor.) Could it have been a hearth, or a chimney base? It's red brick, or clay, and it's square.

This is a close-up of one wall. I do hope it didn't sag like this when the building was occupied.

These ruins aren't too far from the subdivision. They're also very near Long Branch Creek and not far from the CSX/VRE train tracks. (One theory is that this was an old train station, but I don't think so; it's not in quite the right place, even relative to the old tracks before they were moved circa 1901; also, patrons would have had to cross a creek to get to the train station.)

The land here slopes downhill. If this was a home, the occupants would have found themselves rolling out of bed every night and landing in a heap against the bedroom wall. Although that would certainly explain why the structure was abandoned, I like to think there's a more fanciful back story. Perhaps this was a hunting cabin; the slope would have given hunters a good view of animals coming to drink at the nearby creek. Or perhaps it's the ruins of a Confederate Army fort, or a weekend retreat of some famous historical figure (kind of like Camp David, only smaller, closer to D.C., and much more modest . . . so, okay, not that much like Camp David after all).

Do you know this building? What was it used for, and whom did it belong to? Please share what you know so that I can write the ending to this tale from the Amberleigh woods.

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