Moongate

Is Gateway To Many Memories

By Nancy K. Crevier

“A Glimpse Of The Garden” is a miniseries focusing on the heart of a gardener’s work — a special spot, an extraordinary plant, a place of respite, or a place that evokes a heartfelt memory. What is down the garden path of your friends and neighbors? What is down your garden path?

In Bermuda, the moongate, a mostly circular archway that often leads into a garden or park, is a national symbol. The first plans for the architectural gates were brought to Bermuda by a sea captain in 1860, according to legend. Originally made of wood, the design was adapted to be fashioned from heavy Bermuda stone, and folklore has it that young lovers or honeymooners who pass through a moongate will be blessed with good luck.

“When Mike and I went to Bermuda for our 20th anniversary, I saw these moongates, the symbol of eternal love and happiness, and fell in love with them,” said Deb Osborne.

So ten years ago, when her daughter was to be married on their Zoar Road property, she called the late Glenn “Benny” Atkinson, a stonemason, and asked if he could build one for the wedding ceremony.

“He said, ‘This is New England, Deb. I’m going to have to put a huge foundation under it, so it doesn’t fall down,’” recalled Ms Osborne. “Because I’m pretty sure there is never snow in Bermuda, but with the frost heaves and changing weather in New England, it needed lots of support,” she said.

The Bermuda moongates that she had seen were only single stone arches, said Ms Osborne, but she envisioned a gateway that would blend into the New England stonewalls that surround her home. “I showed Benny pictures, and he just winged it. He was ingenious,” Ms Osborne said of Mr Atkinson, who died unexpectedly last fall.

“I feel like I had always known Benny. He had done several repair jobs for us, and we knew his parents. I figured if Benny couldn’t figure out how to do it, no one else would know what I was rambling on about,” laughed Ms Osborne.

He did, indeed, make a sturdy and deep foundation, and then proceeded to create the three-stone-thick arch out of local stone. Making a form out of plywood and rebar metal poles, he gradually built the stone structure inside of it, using cement as needed to hold the rocks together. “He really couldn’t see what he was doing, but when he took it down, there was this beautiful moongate,” Ms Osborne said.

It has been ten years since her daughter and son-in-law crossed over the bridge behind their home and stepped through the moongate. “And they seem pretty happy and in love to me,” Ms Osborne said.

The moongate is a lasting memorial to the work of Mr Atkinson, as well, she added. “In ten years, not one stone has ever budged.”

That is what is down the garden path at Deb and Mike Osborne’s.