Auerbach and Associates

PO Box 39, Erwinna, PA 18920

Bishop Farm Summary:

Physical Verification of a Society Like No Other
Location
The property is located at 3100 East Orvilla Road near West Branch Neshaminy Creek of
Hatfield Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Resource
The large parcel referenced as the Bishop or Clymer Farm, now 43 acres, includes a
portion acquired by Hatfield Township and adjoins an existing park network, featuring an
18th century log and stone house, barn ruins, open fields, meadows, and West Branch
Neshaminy Creek.
The farmstead adjoins a stone two-arch bridge built in 1874 and listed in NR 6/22/1988.
To the west of the bridge and the Bishop farmstead is Ridgedale, also known as Frick
Farm, with a plastered stone farmhouse that is close to Orvilla Road. This farm is now
the 9-hole Twin Woods Golf Course. To the far west of the golf course is School Road
Park, owned by Hatfield Township.
Bordering West Branch Neshaminy Creek on the south side of Orvilla Road is the Frick
Meetinghouse and Burial Ground. The burial ground dates to the mid-18th century and
served local Mennonite congregations. The brick meetinghouse was built post-1883. A
previous meetinghouse sited closer to the creek was demolished. The present
meetinghouse and burial ground are maintained by the Rosenberger Family. A network
of pedestrian trails comes up along West Branch Neshaminy past the burial ground and
meetinghouse ultimately connecting to School Road Park. Another older farmhouse is
located southwest of the meetinghouse property facing Orvilla Road opposite Ridgedale
Farm.
While there is a 20th century housing development on surrounding parcels, the
enclave of resources noted above is compelling in visual continuity and historical
associations, and they provide a sound image of Hatfields 272-year history, strong
German heritage, and agricultural-based development.
The log house on the Bishop farmstead is the strongest anchor to this heritage by
age, hand-crafted log construction, vernacular form and agricultural function. The
house is the only remaining 18th century log house in Hatfield Township. Moreover,
the farm was one of the longest operating farms in the township from the mid-18th
century through ca. 2010.
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Regional Perspective
Southeastern Pennsylvania holds worldwide significance as the physical
manifestation of a most unique event in the history of civilization, namely William
Penns Holy Experiment. In 1682, Penn acquired title to Pennsylvania and invited
peoples from around the world, then primarily Western Europe, to settle here under
his loose Frame of Government and to enjoy freedom of speech and religion and to
pursue private economic pursuits. This was essentially the first time individuals or
groups from different countries encountered each other and became neighbors.
Pockets of settlement groups defined by nationality, culture, and/or religion took up
residence roughly in areas bounded by our current townships. The original counties with
their original extended limits to Bucks, Philadelphia (inclusive of Montgomery), and
Chester, became witness to nearly a dozen different cultural groups, each bringing their
ideas, customs, religions, and preferences from Europe to Pennsylvania soils. The
vernacular architecture, road and bridge network, churches, meetinghouses, burial
grounds, land use and patterns, and mills in this early hub hold the actual proof of
the presence of these various groups.
The oldest buildings, those of first and second-generation settlers, retain distinct physical
elements of the cultural signature of their builders with the strongest of European
influence, yet with immediate adaptations to locally available materials, climate,
economic offerings, and surrounding cultures.
Penns Holy Experiment proved a success and was the embryo of America and the
foundation of the United States. A century later many elements of his Frame of
Government were adopted into our United States Constitution. The proof that
different peoples could live, work, and thrive together under one government was
confirmed in the actual communities manifested in this area of Pennsylvania.
Remarkably, many cultural landscapes and buildings survive from the 18th century to
bear witness to each of these groups and their response to the opportunity of freedom and
to live together, remaining distinct, yet drawing from the good qualities each had to offer.
It is through the preservation of these resources that we in our areas of
Southeastern Pennsylvania can proudly demonstrate to the world the physical
verification of this event and the formative process to create a society like no other.
In upper Montgomery and Bucks Counties, we saw particular settlement by Germanbased cultures, including many variations on denominations broadly defined as
Mennonite, Lutheran, Reformed, and German Baptist Brethren. Surrounding these
German communities, on the fringes or in pockets, included Welsh Baptists, Welsh
Quakers, English Quakers, Scot-Irish Presbyterian, and Irish and German Roman
Catholic. Hatfield Township joins with neighboring Franconia and Salford Townships in
being home to primarily Mennonite, as well as Lutheran and Reformed groups. Multiple
meetinghouses bear witness to the strength and diversity of these communities through
freedom, often bearing fruit to subsets or divergent sects. Within a ten-mile radius of
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Hatfield, one can find evidence of at least a half-dozen other nationalities, cultures, and
religions through heritage landscapes, vernacular buildings and places of worship.
Anchored by the Native American Minsi Trail, todays Bethlehem Pike, Penns grid
system comprised roads and land parcels that benefited from strong source aquifers of the
Neshaminy and Perkiomen Creeks, south slopes, and good soils. Hatfield thus became
a hub and nurturing center for German families to sustain tradition and connect
with the rest of the world.
The Frick Meetinghouse and Burial Ground stand strong witness to the presence of
this quiet, land-loving people. The collection of resources along this portion of East
Orvilla Road provides a vignette of heritage landscape valued in representing the
success of Penns Holy Experiment.

Specific Characteristics
Bishop Farm represents a number of hallmarks of German vernacular farmhouse
architecture, in particular in the geographically favored region around Hatfield.
Several character-defining features are evident, even from a distance or through
photographs.
1. Large Square Footprint
Due to the beneficial climate, waters, soils, and location, this region produced very
large nearly square homes to serve as the hub of the farmstead and the family.
Those buildings built of log are remarkable for the size of the log beams utilized.
The Bishop farmhouse appears to have original, single logs spanning the full nearly
42-foot width and nearly 24-foot depth. It stands a full 2 stories high. Closer
inspection can determine if the house was constructed 1 stories and vertically
added to soon after. This square footprint identifies directly back to European
architecture, and the continental plan homes with central chimneys built by
first settlers. Only a few other examples remain in the region, namely the Morgan
Log House near Lansdale, the privately-owned Leidy Farmhouse in Franconia and
the former, now removed, Scheib House in Hatfield Borough. Compared to small
one-room cabins in other early North American settlements, these houses by
size verify the nurturing qualities of climate and soil in this region.
2. 18th Century Construction
Visual clues from photographs show rather steep V notches for the log joinery at
the corners, likely indicating a mid-18th century construction. The size of the
beams recommends local virgin hardwoods sourced from the property as fields were
being cleared.

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3. Asymmetrical Fenestration
Not quite evenly spaced window and door openings, a total of five, on the first floor
and second floor, a total of four, recommend a more utilitarian approach to house
design and floor plan, which is more vernacular than formal, as is commonly found
within the German heritage-based repertoire. This is before prevailing Georgian
formality ordered the visual image of common homes. It may also recommend a
slight influence from nearby Welsh cultures to the south.
4. Ground Level Entrance
German cultures are practical, land-loving, earth-bound cultures whose homes are
commonly set on the landscape with the first floor level close to the outside
ground level. Welsh homes also tend to feature this trait, again coming out of a
people enjoying their connection to the land. The Bishop house appears to be built
with its entrances close to ground level, reinforcing this feature.
5. Acceptance of Log Construction
German cultures were quite comfortable with log house construction and quite adept
at assembling large log homes. They also did not feel as compelled to replace the log
home simply for style, if it continued to serve. The Bishop farmhouse stands as
confirmation of the large log homes accepted by their German owners, modified
with additions over time, such as the stone north gable portion. Note, some
sources suggest the stone as early also, showing log was just as favored.
6. House Sited in Proximity to Water Source
The Bishop farmstead verifies early homestead locations in close proximity to a
good water source, both for the family and the farm animals. As generations
progressed, properties were established with dug wells, but first generation sites
relied on open water until wells could be dug.

Cultural Perspective
The value and contribution of the molding of our country by the quiet people
who comprised the ancestors of many of Hatfields citizenry was eloquently
expressed ca. 1899 by John F. Funk, a contributor to the book titled A Brief
History of Bishop Henry Funck and Other Funk Pioneers..., 1899, Miltim, X. J.
author.
The public life of a nation or a people, in which only the warlike
and the political aspects are presented, shows only one side of the
picture. The quiet, everyday life, the earnest, devoted, faithful
heroes that make up the bone and sinew of a nation, in their daily
toil, on the farm, in the work shop, in the home and in their religious bearing, form another aspect of life which must necssarily be
brought out in order to show what the people really are.
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Planning Perspective
Local municipalities are charged to uphold the peoples right to clean air and water
and natural and historical resources under the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Resources of local significance, which need not be National Register eligible, can be
identified for preservation under State Municipalities Code and Pennsylvania
History Code.
Bishop Farm has been identified in Hatfields Open Space Planning Guide as the
number one top priority to preserve due to its landscape, natural, agricultural,
aquatic and historic resources. The Bishop farmstead here in Hatfield Township
could substantially contribute to a component of heritage tourism for Southeastern
Pennsylvania that focuses on early settlement, heritage, and cultural diversity in the
architecture and landscapes around Philadelphia.
The preservation of Bishop Farm only works to amplify the townships open space
and parks resources, and the nearby privately preserved yet accessible properties
by its proximity and contribution to the historic and landscape amenities of the
above noted School Road Park, the Orvilla Stone Arch Bridge, Twin Woods Golf
Course, Fricks Meetinghouse and Burial Ground, and the West Branch Frick
Trail. Its preservation would help to ensure better use and preservation of
properties already under township jurisdiction. Heavy development, alteration,
and use of the Bishop farmstead, or its removal, would likewise conversely have an
adverse effect on the above resources, while placing functional, environmental and
usage strains on delicate and preserved resources of value. It would therefore
diminish the townships present investments.

Integrity
The National Register of Historic Places identifies seven attributes of integrity, or
the ability of a property to convey the elements of its significance through its
physical fabric. These are subject to the interpretation and knowledge of the reviewer
and to what has been identified as of significance. Values include:
1. Location
Yes, Bishop Farm sustains integrity of location and verifies the tenacity of agriculture
in this corner of Hatfield near Route 309.
2. Design
Yes, Bishop Farmhouse maintains integrity through its form and fenestration of large,
square, log homes built by German culture families in the mid-18th century in this
region.

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3. Setting
Yes, Bishop Farm retains integrity of setting with intact meadows and fields,
driveway approach, stream, adjoining stone arch bridge, and adjoining historical
resources abovementioned.
4. Materials
Yes, Bishop Farmhouse retains integrity of its raw materials, namely the massive log
construction and fieldstone addition, even though finish materials have been mostly
lost.
5. Workmanship
Yes, the Bishop Farmhouse maintains integrity of workmanship of the log and stone
wall construction, the basis for interpreting regional vernacular architecture;
6. Feeling
Yes, Bishop farmhouse maintains integrity to convey the humble, earth-bound values
of its builders, the hand-made character of founding family homesteads and its over
250-year-old age.
7. Association
Yes, Bishop Farm holds integrity of association, to its neighborhood, to the township,
to the regional record of history of German cultural settlement in upper Montgomery
County and to the witness of the arrival of distinct European populations to establish
homes and communities in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, the farmhouse has lost some of its finish components, namely doors and
windows, but enough material remains to understand, or even see, the design of those
elements. Often components such as trim shutters, doors, and hardware are re-utilized
elsewhere in a house and are uncovered as restoration or rehabilitation work is
undertaken.
By mid-18th century form and craftsmanship, the Bishop farmstead in its entirety
stands as the most authentic, tangible, physical evidence to prove the presence of
early and successful settlement in this area. There is great potential for
archaeological findings, both historic and prehistoric, in the house and the
surrounding grounds that would contribute greatly to a greater understanding of
the farmstead and of Hatfields remarkable beginnings.

Kathryn Ann Auerbach

Preservation Consultant
Preservation Is Real