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Report on the 1972 Archaeological Project.

This project was initiated on May 22, 1972 and at this time became known as the Jerseyside/Placentia Archaeological Committee. Participants in the committee were William O'Shea, Paul Rowe, Barbara Murphy, Patricia Ryan, Wayne Carroll, David Bailey, Carmel Wyse, Jim Wyse, Shirley Bailey, and John Phippard, O'Shea was the co-ordinator of the project.

On the 31st of May the committee met at the Ballfield in Jerseyside to try and locate what was known in local lore as a "French Graveyard". Permission was received from the Jerseyside Council to excavate on the site of the French Fort St. Louis, and with this the group went to work. A grid section was setup, and two test trenches of five foot square were dug. The next day another trench was dug further to the south and it was here, on the second of June that the upper section of a skeleton was discovered at 27 inches. Only the upper section of a skeleton was uncovered due to the fact that the town waterline had torn through the lower section. Because of this and because of the ruinous condition of the remaining bones, we had hoped to be able to excavate another skeleton. As it was, we had used the time allowed for us at the Ballfield and had to leave the site without being able to complete the investigation.

This early week in June also saw some members involved in searching for artifacts at the Verran site. A long trench had been dug for a pipeline on the property of Mr. Randall Verran site. (Current site of the Rosedale Manor) Members found numerous pieces of pipestems, glass and pottery. It was at this time also that the committee members were conducting interviews with many people in the area.

The following weeks efforts were divided in three locations: Test trenching at the Mansfield site, which lay at the south end of the ballfield and on the Fort St. Louis Site; collecting surface samples and digging an occasional test trench on the Blockhouse site; and searching for artifacts at the Verran site.

On the 9th of June, Bill O'Shea left and the project hired Ann Marie Ryan to make up the ten members. The loss of O'Shea meant a modification in the objectives of the project. The committee thought that without the aid of an experienced field worker, it would not be wise to engage in actual excavations. With this in mind, the group decided to devote itself to conducting site surveys. It was felt by the committee that this aspect of archaeological work be better suited to the qualifications of the members. It was also felt that site surveys were necessary to this area in order to pave the way for further archaeological investigations.

From the 13th of June until the 21th most of the groups activity took place at the committee's headquarters. It was here that work was done on preservation of the bone material which was found.

This image links to an HTML file that contains a 34kb map of area.By the 21th of June we were already to begin work on the site surveys. The list included: Point Verde, site of a former English gun battery; The Letter rock, a place rich in folk-lore and legends; Gallons Point Battery, on which another English gun-Battery was supposed to be situated; Crevecour Battery; Prevecure site, a French graveyard according to old stories; Fort Frederick, English fort of the eighteenth century; Fort St. Louis Graveyard, the French stronghold in Newfoundland; The Blockhouse, an English Battery which guarded the road entrance to Placentia; Verran Site, a site where many artifacts were found.

The first site survey undertaken by the group was at Point Verde and because of it's size (1000ft x 300ft) it was the one that required the time and effort. The survey began on June 21, and was completed on July 9. Then began the work of collecting historical research, such as old maps, writings of historians or any material relevant to the history of the area. Little documentary information was uncovered probably because little has been published. However, the log book of the H.M.S. Pegasus which visited Placentia under the command of Prince William Henry in 1786, contained many sketches of the area including Point Verde, and shows at least seven buildings erected on the site at this time.

After the completion of the Point Verde site, the group again divided forces and site surveys of the Letter rock and Gallon's Point were done simultaneously. Work on these projects began on the 7th of July and was completed by the 19th of July.

The 20th of July found the group ready to begin the work on the site of Fort Frederick. This was one of the less difficult sites to work on, in the sense that there was more published information on this site and of course Fort St. Louis then any other site which we worked on. All that remains of Fort Frederick is a single mound 30ft x 50ft and this was graphed and photographed. All the work on Fort Frederick was completed by the last week in July.

By the beginning of August the group had completed the survey of Crevecoeur. Situated below the heights of the north shore of the harbour, exposed to the open sea, this was the most scenic of all the sites. The Crevecoeur cemetery proved difficult to trace. The only person who claimed to know the location of the graveyard was unable, at the time, to guide us to it. After two unsuccessful attempts to locate it, the group had to give up the attempts to locate it, due to lack of time remaining.

By the 15th of August, the project's termination date, a lot of work remained in order to complete the report. The committee continued to work on a part-time basis until the full report had been finished. This meant a continuation until the first week of September.

As a result of the project, we became more involved in the affairs of the community. When we learned, for example, that the Placentia Town Council planned on re-locating it's municipal dump to an area which would greatly endanger two historic sites which we had surveyed. We sent a letter of protest to the Council and requested the Placentia Area Historical Society to do the same. Although our efforts proved fruitless, and the sites were destroyed, if it had not been for the project we probably would not have been interested enough to write.

There is one point that the members feel strongly about. We believe that projects like this are of greater benefit to Placentia than to most areas. Projects such as these can help promote development in the community.

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Source:
Jerseyside/Placentia Archaeological Project Throughout the summer of 1972.