One hundred years before the American Revolution, the first battle of King Philip’s War, a war described by historian Jill Lepore as forming the “origins of American Identity,” took place at Nockum Hill. From the moment the English first arrived in Plymouth in 1620, a thirst for land coupled with a quest for religious freedom, drove them to expand westward to establish a new town centered around Rev. John Myles’ Baptist Meetinghouse in what is now an isolated corner of Barrington, Rhode Island. This lecture explores what recent archaeological studies and historical document research reveal about the people who settled the town and the events that led to the burning of the meeting house at the onset of King Philip’s War in June of 1675. Click here for an 87-minute video of the presentation held at the Barrington Town Hall on June 15, 2026.

(Above) Town Manager Phil Hervey welcomed the audience and described how the Town came to acquire the land at Nockum Hill. Barrington Preservation Society President and Senior Lecturer Emeritus at Brown University Dr. Luther Spoehr described the background of King Philip’s War before Society Member Stephen Venuti spoke at length about the archaeological work at Nockum Hill.

(Above, left) The Public Archaeology Survey Team, Inc. led the investigation, funded by an American Battlefield Protection Grant of the National Park Service. (Above, center) University of Connecticult archaeologist Kevin McBride looks over a colonial item found on the site. (Above, right) Team members used metal detecting, ground penetrating radar, soil excavation and artifact recovery before cataloging their findings.

(Above, left) The Map of Indian Localities published by Thomas Bicknell in 1908 reveals the Pokanoket Native names around Sowams, the homeland of the Massasoit Ousamequin and his son, Metacom, also known to the English settlers as King Philip. (Above, center) Baptist minister Rev. John Myles came from Swansea, Wales to Sowams to start a new church at Nockum Hill in 1667. (Above, right) Captain Thomas Willett, who twice served as mayor of New York City and lived nearby in Sowams, proposed three rules for admitting people into the new Town of Swansea, MA.

(Above, left) Barrington Town Planner Herbert Durfee III outlined potential future plans for the Nockum Hill site. (Above, center) Sowams Heritage Area Board of Directors President Andrea Rounds speaks with Board Member and local author Rev. Charles Hartman. (Above, right) Author Eric Schultz, Pokanoket Tribal Historian Strong Turtle, and Pokanoket Sachem Dancing Star talk with audience members following the presentation.