The principal residence of Avalon, where Calvert and his family lived during the winter of 1628-29 and in which the Kirkes established their residence in 1638, has long been the object of archaeologists working at Ferryland.
Overview of the presence of the Kirkes in Newfoundland, including the granting of the island and the legal battles between the Kirkes and the Calverts.
Much of our knowledge of daily life in outport Newfoundland in the late 18th and early 19th century comes from the pens of visitors. They were typically missionaries, explorers, naturalists, and geologists whose work brought them to outlying communities not often visited by outsiders or even the local government.
An article about the forge that was constructed at the Colony of Avalon, Newfoundland during the summer of 1622, and a look at some of the artifacts that were unearthed there.
During the 1650s, French Basque fishermen began to overwinter in Placentia Bay, a practice that was encouraged when the French crown decided to sponsor a colony.
Archaeologists, who thought that the 'prettie streete' would be little more than a dirt track meandering through the settlement, were surprised in 1994 to find the first traces of a cobblestone pavement near the western edge of the original settlement.
Extract from a letter to John Winthrop, Jr. from Rev. Richard Blinman, dated August 22, 1659, and dealing with religion, the Puritan Church, cod, fisheries, ships, and servants.