Village Walking Tour

Constructed of granite from the Shakers’ own quarry, the Great Stone Dwelling took three years to complete. It’s 5 1/2 floors and full basement provided comfortable, efficient spaces for cooking, dining, sleeping, and worship for 96 Shakers. There were originally 860 built-in drawers. It was completed without any debt and remains a visible statement of the Enfield Shakers’ communal prosperity, as well as their quest for equality of the sexes, order, simplicity, and spiritual perfection.

In this chapel, the La Salette community worshiped until the 1980’s. The gift of Miss Mary Keane of Hartford, Connecticut, it features Italian marble and mosaics, German stained-glass windows, and a Casavant organ from Canada. The chapel was deconsecrated in 1985. Today, people of all faiths are welcome.

Moved from its original location in 1834 to make room for the construction of the Great Stone Dwelling. Shaker Brothers used the West Shop for woodworking–brooms, scoops, ladles, grain measures, etc. In later years, Brother Franklin Young, the last Brother at Enfield, renovated the second floor as an apartment.

The only remaining example of a Shaker four-level drive-through straight “Great Barn.” Hay wagons would enter through a ramp onto the upper floor of the barn and exit through a ramp at the rear (now missing). Shaker Brothers pitched the hay down to the next level (the haymow) for storage. From the haymow, hay was pitched to the cows on the level below, where trap doors allowed the cow’s waste to be shoveled down to the manure pits in the basement. The cows’ stalls, food, and water were heated, which increased their milk production.

The Laundry building is the large three-story section, built in 1813 and expanded in 1833. Here, Sisters did the laundry, ironing, and mending; spun and wove fabric; made clothing and cloaks. In the Dairy at the center, built in 1813 and enlarged in 1825, Sisters made butter and cheese. The shop at the left is a modern addition.

New Hampshire’s Shaker Bishopric consisted of Shaker communities at Enfield and Canterbury. Both were overseen by Bishopric Ministry–Elders and Eldresses. The Ministry regularly traveled between the two communities, living and working in this building when in Enfield. This was the last structure built by the Enfield Shakers.

In their extensive gardens, the Enfield Shakers grew well over 100 plant varieties for culinary, medicinal, and aromatic uses, as well as dyestuffs. They innovated the sale of garden seeds in small packages. This demonstration garden, begun by the museum in 1987, includes examples of plants grown by the Enfield Shakers.

Flat headstones mark the generations of bishops, priests, and brothers who served the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette at Enfield from 1928 to 2024. Miss Mary Keane, who donated her fortune to La Salette, is the only woman ever allowed to be buried in this cemetery. The museum maintains this cemetery.

From 1793 to 1928, 328 Enfield Shakers were buried here. Originally, each grave was marked by a simply carved headstone with name and date. In the 1930’s, the headstones were replaced by a single granite gravestone inscribed “Shakers” to symbolize the communal life the Shakers shared and also to simplify maintenance.

On a terrible night in 1849, the wooden mill building on this spot burned to the ground. Enfield Shaker Brothers resolved to rebuild in stone. Note that even the eaves are granite. Refitted with the latest in water-powered machinery, this was the shop in which Brothers later manufactured the famous Eclipse Corn Planter.

Records about this barn are lost. There is evidence of an earthen ramp on both ends of the barn, with transom windows above. Likely used for storing hay on the main level, with animals or farm equipment on the (now-missing) wooden floor below. The museum used dendrochronology (study of tree rings) to date the barn.

An early photograph shows a sign above the front door “OFFICE AND STORE”. Here, visitors from the “World” conducted business with the North Family Shakers, both buying and selling. North Family “NF” buckets and pails were renown. The Trustees (Brothers and Sisters), lived here and hosted visitors from other villages.

In this two-story barn, North Family Trustees’ horses, wagons, and carriages would have been kept on the main floor. Originally, a massive earthen ramp (now missing) rose up from the driveway to the second floor of the barn, probably to allow hay to be stored on the second floor. The lean-to section on the right side is a 20th century addition.

Like many timber-frame barns of the 19th century, this barn was built with three levels. The main floor with a central aisle housed the cows. Hay was stored in lofts above on the left and right sides. Hatches in the stalls on the main floor allowed manure to be shoveled to the basement below. This is the earliest surviving barn in the village.

To accommodate the storage of fire wood, huge wood houses were constructed at all three Enfield Shaker families. This one measures 30′ wide x 100′ long, two stories high, and was fitted with two large drive-through doors (where the entry porches are located today). Originally, it was painted white, with beautiful multi-paned windows.

The North Family Laundry/Dairy was the first of three stone buildings constructed by the Enfield Shakers. The Dairy was on located on the first floor, where butter and cheese were made. The Laundry was located on the two floors above, and the spaces were filled with the most beautiful chrome-yellow built-in cabinets.

Built by the Missionaries of La Salette as a chapel to support the nearby shrine. Now owned by Enfield Shaker Museum, it is used for theater performances, concerts, conferences, lectures, films, and also as an orientation center for museum visitors. The Performance Center seats 300 persons; heated and air conditioned.

Until about 1950, this hillside was used by both Shaker and La Salette communities for pasture and meadow, with a maple sugar bush above. Water from the pond once powered the Shaker pail mills below. The shrine created by La Salette in 1950 is now owned by the Museum. All are welcome to visit from dawn to dusk.

A half-hour walk up a dirt road to the left of the 50-acre meadow leads to a spot known as the “Feast Ground”. It is a 140 square-foot plateau built into the hillside by the Shakers during a period of intense spiritual revival in the 1840s. The grass is neatly mown. The “feasts” held here were elaborate rituals that included marching, singing, and miming the act of eating delicious spiritual food. About this time, the Enfield Shakers named the outdoor worship area “Mount Assurance” and adopted the name “Chosen Vale” for the beautiful place in which they lived.
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