Historic Sites and Tours

Did you know that Trinity was where  Jon Clinch, a childhood friend of Edward Jenner, introduced the smallpox vaccine to the New World?  What about the fact that the first court of justice in North America was established when Sir Richard Whitbourne held the first Court of Admiralty in Trinity in 1615?  These and many other historically significant stories of Trinity and its harbour are ones we love to tell in a variety of ways.

TRINITY HISTORICAL WALKING TOURS

Bring your imagination and join Kevin Toope as he relates the story of Trinity and its peoples; the Beothuk Indians, the French, the Irish, and the English and their contributions to a magnificent and colorful history. Through stories, historic photos, burial records, shipwrecks, and disasters you will time travel through the history of Newfoundland in the magical setting called Trinity. 

Kevin’s tour runs 6 days a week and begins at 10am at the end of Clinch’s Lane (less than 10 minutes by foot from the Twine Loft) and departs rain or shine.  The tour usually ends in the same location at 12pm.   

Additional Links                                                                                          

Trinity Historical Walking Tours Website

Trip Advisor Reviews

Getting There

Distance from Twine Loft:  Located on CLinch’s Lane, Walking Distance 8 minutes

THE NEWFOUNDLAND TRINITY PAGEANT

On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Newfoundland and Labrador’s history takes to the streets for Rising Tide Theatre’s New Founde Lande Trinity Pageant, a walking tour of the town led by actors portraying a few of the more outrageous characters from the not-too-distant past.

This play typically starts running in early July and ends Labour Day Weekend

Rising Tide Theatre Website

HISTORIC SITES PASS

Go to the green visitor’s centre on West Street where passes are sold for both Provincial and Municipal Sites. Visit the sites throughout the day at your own leisure (they are all within walking distance of each other and the inn) Within the sites interpreters will answer questions you may have about the sites’ significance in the area.  

Trinity Historic Sites Information Centre

Lester Garland Building

Lester-Garland House provides a visible means of interpreting the historic links between Poole (and the hinterland region known as Wessex) and Trinity (and the northeast coast of Newfoundland), the role of Trinity as a centre of trade and commerce in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries and especially of the culture that sprang from these linkages and associations.

The Ryan Shop Mercantile Premises

This is where fishermen came from all over the Bight to trade their fish for supplies, and where the Lester-Garlands kept track of their fortune.

 

The Hiscock House

Emma Hiscock’s life spanned a time when Trinity’s heyday as a centre for the salt fish trade was in the past, but it was still the place where everyone from all over the Bight came to do their shopping. Restored to 1910, today Emma’s house is a snapshot of life in this period and tells the story of how Emma kept up a genteel life for herself and her six children after her husband drowned in the 1890s.

The Green Family Forge

The blacksmith in Trinity played a vital role in producing equipment and tools necessary for the fishery in Trinity.  This is not just a historic site, but a living museum where our two local and professionally trained blacksmith make coat hooks, pot racks, candle holders and more.  

 

The Cooperage

The Cooperage, a location where barrels were traditionally made, played a major part in Trinity’s Fishing Heritage. Today it serves as a living museum where our local Cooper can be found working on products like fisherman’s lunch pails and wooden children’s toys.

The Trinity Museum

This building houses many of the artifacts reflecting life in Trinity,  collected by the Trinity Historical Society over the years.

Fort Point Lighthouse

Fort Point, also known as Admiral’s Point, offers a fantastic view of Trinity.  This is where a British fortification once stood (cannons can still be seen) until it was destroyed during a 15 day period when the French occupied Trinity in 1762.  

The second installation of a fort was in 1812 to serve as protection against the raids of American privateers.  After the fort was abandoned a lighthouse was installed in 1871.  

St. Paul’s Anglican Church

It is believed that St. Paul’s was built by either Caleb Marshall or James Harvey of St. John’s. The wooden church with its arched windows, chancel, side aisles, and tower with a spire is an excellent example of Gothic Revival architecture in outport Newfoundland during the nineteenth century.

Holy Trinity Catholic Church

This is said to be the oldest standing wooden Catholic Church in Newfoundland.  The church never had electricity installed and has the feeling of a dollhouse inside.  

Historic Sites

TRINITY

HISTORIC SITES PASS

We have an entire page dedicated to the historic sites of Trinity, all within walking distance of Artisan Inn accommodations.  Sites include:

The Lester Garland Building
The Hiscock House
The Green Family Forge
The Ryan Shop
The Trinity Museum
The Court House/Wooden Boat Museum
The Cooperage
St. Paul’s Church and the Holy Trinity Church

Visit our page HISTORIC SITES IN TRINITY to learn more.

NEW BONAVENTURE            

A laundry line is hung with clothing from the 19th century with a square green house in the background

Random Passage Site   

Ok, this is not a historic site, but instead, a movie set from the mini-series Random Passage.  It does, however, offer visitors the chance to understand the struggle many of the first Newfoundland settlers faced when they arrived on this barren isolated land from England and Ireland and what early settlements would have looked liked including the church, schoolhouse, and the disparity between the houses of the well-off and those who struggled to survive the winter.

Additional Links

Random Passage on Eastlink’s Discover NL

PORT UNION

Port Union Museum

Port Union National Historic District

Port Union is the only union-built town in North America. Construction began on the shores of Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, in 1916. Within five years, a busy and modern union town bordered the protected deep-water harbour-all made possible through the hard work and vision of the members of the Fishermen’s Protective Union (the FPU) and their first leader, William Ford Coaker.

To learn more about the Union Town, visit the Factory and The Bungalow

Additional Links

Trip Advisor Reviews

ELLISTON

Home from the sea, Sealer’s Memorial Museum

The great sealing disasters of 1914 contributed greatly to the loss of a generation soon to be devastated by World War I. In remembering these men, Home from The Sea presents the historical and cultural context of sealing in Newfoundland and Labrador through seven captivating visitor experiences.  Learn more by visiting the linked website.

Sealer’s Memorial Statue

Situated on Porter’s Point, facing the sea and looking back toward home, rests the bronze statue of father and son Reuben and Albert John Crewe, residents of Elliston who perished out on the ice in the 1914 SS Newfoundland sealing disaster. Created by acclaimed sculptor Morgan MacDonald, it sits as a poignant reminder not only of great loss but of the remarkable ties that bind families together in places where going to work and coming Home from the Sea is never a guarantee. It stands to represent all sealers who have risked and lost their lives in their efforts to support their families and communities. Learn more by visiting the linked website.

BONAVISTA

The Ryan Premises

A salty scent lingers within the cluster of white, 19th century clapboard buildings of the Ryan Premises, perched on the shore of Bonavista’s historic and picturesque harbour. Hear the reminiscences of the site’s interpreters, most of whom have a personal connection to the fishing industry; marvel at the variety of artifacts in the on-site Bonavista Museum; and explore the internationally-recognized “Cod, Seals and Survivors” exhibition that tells the 500-year story of Canada’s east coast fishery.

Matthew Legacy Centre

500 years after John Cabot first arrived in Newfoundland, both Bristol and Newfoundland marked the monumental event by recreating the voyage in 1997. A replica of Cabot’s ship, The Matthew, sailed across the Atlantic and landed at Bonavista’s shores and was greeted by hundreds of on-lookers, including Queen Elizabeth II.  The Matthew Legacy Centre was built to house the ship and visitors can tour the boat and learn more about Cabot.

Additional Links:

Video: A Voyage Across the Atlantic on a Replica of The Matthew – History Channel

Bonavista Lighthouse

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse was constructed in 1843 and is currently restored to the 1870s period. The highlight of the lighthouse is an original catoptric light mechanism that dates to 1816. An adjacent interpretation centre features exhibits on lighthouse technology and lightkeepers’ lives.

Additional notes: Some of the site summaries are copied directly from the websites of those sites and are not the original content of the Artisan Inn and Twine Loft.