Formal Recognition Type

Municipal Heritage Building, Structure or Land

Heritage Value

Band of Hope Loyal Orange Lodge #1402 has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Elliston due to its aesthetic, historic and social value.

Band of Hope Loyal Orange Lodge #1402 has aesthetic value as a prominent landmark on Elliston’s cultural landscape, located in a cluster of historic institutional buildings including Elliston United Church, United Church Hall and St. Mary’s Anglican Church. It is perched on the hill named after it (Lodge Hill), so that it is visible from much of the community.

Band of Hope Loyal Orange Lodge #1402 is a good example of the types of lodges built in small Newfoundland communities around the late 1800s and early 1900s. The basic, rectangular, one-and-a-half storey, wooden structure is clad in narrow painted clapboard, has a stone foundation, and its main entrance is in the front gable end. Its Gothic Revival style features include pointed arch windows and a steeply pitched roof clad in wooden shingles. The circular window in the front gable end has a star design in coloured glass, a symbolic, decorative element also seen in other Orange lodges of similar age and type. The flagpole at the peak of the front gable end is also typical of lodges.

Band of Hope Loyal Orange Lodge #1402 has historic value as one of the oldest intact buildings in Elliston and because of its association with the Loyal Orange Association (LOA), a fraternal organization whose lodges began to spring up in Newfoundland during the nineteenth century. The LOA was active in Elliston by the 1880s, and has a connection to sad, noteworthy events in the community. In 1881 five residents, all Orangemen, were lost when their vessel, The Brothers, sank off Change Islands. On the day of their memorial service their colleagues, clad in their Orangemen’s regalia, met at the Orange Hall and marched with their band to the nearby Methodist church. In 1914, eight residents of Elliston were among the 78 who died during the Newfoundland Disaster seal hunt tragedy, and their bodies were waked at the Orange Hall. Abram Kean, the legendary sealing captain who incurred heavy criticism in connection with the disaster, raised the ire of some locals by visiting and speaking, reportedly uninvited, at an LOA meeting at the hall that following June.

Band of Hope Loyal Orange Lodge #1402 also has social value, given its association with the LOA and its function as a centre for social gatherings such as meetings, parties and watching films over the years.

Source: Town of Elliston Town Council Meeting Minutes of 2007/04/10

Character Defining Elements

All those exterior elements associated with the aesthetic value of the building:

-Gothic Revival elements such as arched windows and peaked roof;

-hilltop location;

-building form, height and dimensions;

-stone foundation;

-roof type and pitch;

-narrow wooden clapboard siding;

-wooden shingles;

-placement of main entrance;

-flagpole at front gable end;

-window types, dimensions and placements, and;

-round window with star motif in front gable.

Community

Elliston

Municipality

Town of Elliston

Civic Address

Main Street

Construction (circa)

1900 - 1900

Style

Rectangular Short Façade