Let's kick off the 2023 field season with a little report of a project we worked on the previous two seasons! Over the last two field seasons (2021 & 2022), we were invited out to the community of Coley's Point, near Bay Roberts in Conception Bay, to do work on a series of gravestones at… Continue reading St. John the Evangelist’s Cemetery, Coley’s Point, Conception Bay, NL
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Port de Grave Cemetery Care Workshop
This week we had the wonderful opportunity to head out to Bareneed with the Port de Grave Peninsula Historical Society, to teach some of their seasonal staff how to safely clean and care for their historic burial grounds! We had been trying to find a warm enough day to get out there for weeks, and… Continue reading Port de Grave Cemetery Care Workshop
The Trinity Project, Phase 3: St. Paul’s Anglican Churchyard
Somehow, we are already several days into July, and we have recently finished up with the 3rd week of our project with the Trinity Historical Society! It was so exciting to get back out to Trinity at the start of the tourist season, and get to see so many visitors who were excited to see… Continue reading The Trinity Project, Phase 3: St. Paul’s Anglican Churchyard
The Trinity Project, Phase 2: St. Paul’s Anglican Churchyard
This is an exciting blog post to write, just a few days after we've wrapped up Phase 2 of this project. Ages ago, we were contacted by the Trinity Historical Society (THS) to consult on the restoration of the St. Paul's Anglican Church's churchyard, located right in the heart of historic Trinity, NL. We visited… Continue reading The Trinity Project, Phase 2: St. Paul’s Anglican Churchyard
Jane Condon’s Gravestone, New Perlican, NL (or; please do not paint your gravestones)
Long time no see, reader! For archaeologists, the winter is basically a time for hibernation and resting our weary bones from digging and moving heavy stones around all summer. We may be resting (and working on our PhD programs) but we're also thinking about the upcoming field season and how much fun we had last… Continue reading Jane Condon’s Gravestone, New Perlican, NL (or; please do not paint your gravestones)
“Adopt A Headstone” with the Trinity Historical Society
We are pleased to announce that we are working with the Trinity Historical Society this year, to begin the restoration of the gravestones at the historic, 18th-century St. Paul's Anglican Church in the heart of Trinity. If you've ever been to the community, you'll remember the striking wood church, surrounded by primarily grey limestone gravestones,… Continue reading “Adopt A Headstone” with the Trinity Historical Society
General Protestant Cemetery, St. John’s, NL
This August and early September we worked on our largest project to date, the restoration of four large monuments at the General Protestant Cemetery in St. John's. These markers were selected for restoration because of their obvious need for repair, as well as being significant figures in the history of St. John's. It was really… Continue reading General Protestant Cemetery, St. John’s, NL
Black Cat x Heritage NL – Gravestone Repair Workshop
Earlier this month we ran a gravestone repair workshop with HeritageNL, at the historic cemetery in the Cape Broyle. Just like our first workshop earlier this summer, we had a wonderful turnout and everyone really put in their all! We had 18 participants in this workshop and 26 in the earlier gravestone cleaning workshop. Today's… Continue reading Black Cat x Heritage NL – Gravestone Repair Workshop
The Samuel Daw Cross – Greenspond, NL
A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of travelling to the island of Greenspond for the first time, to restore the iron cross made by Samuel Daw(e) in the early 20th century. Greenspond is a beautiful community about 4 hours from St. John's, but it was absolutely worth the drive. It was a… Continue reading The Samuel Daw Cross – Greenspond, NL
Fieldwork in Brigus: The John Antle Gravestone
A few weeks ago we got the chance to travel 'round the bay to the town of Brigus, to take a look at the John Antle gravestone. This was a unique gravestone situation, the stone was sitting behind the Stone Barn Museum, where it has lived for many many years. Made from imported limestone, the… Continue reading Fieldwork in Brigus: The John Antle Gravestone
Black Cat Cemetery Preservation 