Very close to Brigus, just about 15 minutes away, is Cupids Cove where the oldest English settlement in Canada was found. It is still an active archaeological dig but you can visit it and because we are close, why not? The drive is quite beautiful especially towards the end as we drive on the shore of Cupids Cove towards the archaeological site.
There is a small visitor center on site where we pay the fee and learn that the visit is with guide only due to the active dig status. We decide to proceed and the guide is quite knowledgeable and engaged and surprisingly we enjoy the guided tour.
We then visit the small museum with commentary from our guide explaining the history behind the settlement.
It is also interesting how it was found following information found in documents in England describing where the settlement was located. As they followed those direction they found the colony in just eight days.
Outside we first visit the active dig site and are being shown some of the finds like glass shards and also how the painstakingly detailed work is being done.
Then we go into the area that was already excavated and is being prepared for self guided tours. This comprises the center of the old settlement and we are curious what stories the guide will tell us about it.
The guide is quite detailed and explains what they have found and how they have deduced where the forge was, where the houses were and how they knew where to dig. It is quite exciting really to hear all the details and to follow the train of thoughts of the experts.
Next is the cemetery where not a lot of digging was done after they confirmed what it is. And then we are going towards the buildings in the middle, the centerpiece of the settlement where the majority of the people were living.
Here they found the hearth, a cellar and also the pavement. They even brought in experts from England to give their opinion about it – quality was high initially but then low quality patches were applied later.
We learn the tobacco pipe heads are used for dating as during that timeframe they were changing a lot so any find can be used for relatively precise dating. And the most famous find here is the oldest coin found in Canada, it was minted before the Americas were discovered. However as we learn later it might not be the oldest anymore as another one was found, still in Newfoundland, that might be slightly older, still an interesting find.
And then we are at the end of the tour and we return to the entrance were we are given an apple picker and allowed to pick as many apples as we want at our request, quite a nice gesture. And we pick a few, they will be good for sustenance the next days. And just as we leave a large group shuffles in, we are happy that we were the only group visiting during the majority of the time as we are not sure there are enough guides for so many groups. From here we leave south towards Placentia and one of the major French outposts in Newfoundland on Castle Hill.
