Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia
Natural Setting
The house built by Richard John Uniacke is situated on a low rise on the shore of Lake Martha. From the house and grounds, the lake seems gently enclosed by hills. The estate is on the drainage divide between the Bay of Fundy and St. Margaret's Bay. It is a rather flat area at the base of an eroded mountain range. |
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Recent glaciation disturbed the landscape, excavating soil and loose rock, and re-depositing it and other debris. In some places bedrock was left exposed, but in others, the glacial deposits were thicker. Old drainage patterns were also disturbed, creating lakes, ponds, and wetlands.
Although at its full extent the estate included lands underlain by granite, almost all of the current 809 hectares/2000 acres lies over quartzite. Soils that develop in the glacial till over this bedrock are thin, coarse-textured, and well-drained. The presence of a few thick deposits of till on the estate is significant. These deposits, known as drumlins, have deeper, more finely textured soils, providing the only soils on the site with any real agricultural capability.
The
forest trees and plants reflect soil and drainage conditions. Low,
wet, and cold northern slopes tend to support softwood forests, while
deeper, drier, warmer slopes often support hardwood forests.
These woodlands include terrestrial and freshwater habitats that are typical of this part of Nova Scotia, classified as the Atlantic Interior Theme Region.
Two units of the Atlantic Interior are represented by the Uniacke Estate Museum Park: the Quartzite Barrens and Headwater Lakes Drumlins.
The Natural History of Nova Scotia
Theme Regions, Volume 2, editors
Derek Davis and Sue Brown, Nova Scotia Museum and Nimbus Publishing,
1996. For more information, visit The
Natural History of Nova Scotia.