What is a haha?
	The English Landscape Gardening school valued continuous vistas and views of the landscape. The haha wall made it possible to achieve these uninterrupted views. A haha wall is a retaining wall built into a ditch. It physically separates the lawn/garden area from the pasture/park, allowing the animals to appear as part of the landscape but keeping them off the lawn without having a fence.The Uniacke Estate haha wall is one of only two known in Canada and would have been a part of the original estate concept.

	The Haha at Mount Uniacke
	As Found
	Prior to the 1992 excavation, physical evidence of the haha wall was limited to a slight curving mound on the east lawn, a curving slope on the west lawn, and a curved stone wall at the edge of the lawn southeast of the house. It was assumed that the ditch, which would have been associated with the haha, was filled in sometime after the fence was built on top of it.

	As Documented
	There is no primary written historical evidence referring to a haha wall on the Uniacke estate during Richard John's tenure (1815 - 1830). There is family oral history and pictorial evidence suggesting its presence, however. An early 1820s map shows a semi-circle of trees in the area of the haha wall and a couple of very large oaks appear to have survived from that time. While there is no strong evidence providing a construction date for the haha wall, three pieces of evidence were used to establish a terminal date.

	The first two pieces of evidence are watercolours painted nearly at the same time, in the 1870s. The one painting shows a thin black line, presumably the haha wall, and a couple of sheep grazing on the south side of the house, perfectly illustrating the intended function of the wall. The other painting, done from the same spot, shows a semi-circular wooden fence in the area of the haha, suggesting the haha was no longer part of the landscape plan.

	As Excavated
	The purpose of the 1992 excavation was to confirm the location of the haha wall, establish, if possible, construction and abandonment dates, and to evaluate the condition of the wall. A total of eight test units covering twenty seven and a half square meters were placed in the area of the haha. Evidence of the wall was found in three of the eight units. The east central portion of the wall was approximately one meter high with a one and a half meter band of fill on the north, or house, side. No evidence was found at this time to provide information on the width of the ditch which would have been on the south side of the wall.

	As Interpreted
	The archaeology has confirmed that the haha wall has survived more or less intact. As desirable as it would be to reconstruct this unique and important feature of the estate, the task of reconstruction is an extremely daunting one. It would have to be accompanied by the complete re-grading of the land around the house. For now we will have to be content with the glimpses of the past which archaeology has provided us.

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