Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

The Custard Head Fishing Premises was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1999 due to its cultural and aesthetic value.

Custard Head Fishing Premises has cultural value as a fine example of a typical inshore fishing premises. This ocean front property represents the evolution in the fishing industry from the early 1900s to the present day. Located on the Hant’s Harbour beach the premises are typical of the independent entrepreneurial fishing initiatives of families along the south shore of Trinity Bay. It represents how families would work together to prepare fish for personal consumption and for their livelihood. These structures are becoming unique in communities as the nature of the fishery changes. Family stages are falling into disrepair and many have been lost from the Newfoundland landscape. Custard Head Fishing Premises is symbolic of the long-standing, traditional economic mainstay of most outport communities.

Custard Head Fishing Premises has aesthetic value because it is a good example of traditional, vernacular outbuilding construction. Made from locally milled wood the buildings are comprised of wooden posts, logs, scrap planks, clapboard and cedar shingles. Handmade plank doors with traditional style latches, small wooden windows and a mid-pitch gable roof are qualities of this traditional-styled structure. The uniqueness of the construction is a testament to time and place when any available materials were recycled. The premises are built on a downward slope to facilitate the loading and unloading of fish from various boats at high and low tide, and there are still original fishing artifacts inside, including the splitting table.

Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Hant’s Harbour – Custard Head Fishing Premises 1552”

Character Defining Elements

All elements that define the building’s simple vernacular design including:
-mid-pitch gable roof;
-small, wooden windows;
-plank doors with traditional style latches;
-recycled materials such as narrow wood clapboard, cedar shingles, and unmilled logs;
-relationship of the buildings to each other: fish stage, shed, stage head, wharf;
-location at the ocean’s edge;
-orientation to the water and land;
-dimensions.

Community

Hant's Harbour

Municipality

Town of Hant's Harbour

Civic Address

Custard Head Road

Construction (circa)

1905 - 1905

Builder

Joseph Francis

Style

Irregular