Winterton is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. It was originally named Sille Cove or Scilly Cove. In 1912 the town was named Winterton for Sir James Spearman Winter, former Prime Minister of Newfoundland. Winterton is located on Winterton Cove off Trinity Bay on the western side of the

Avalon Peninsula The Avalon Peninsula () is a large peninsula that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. It is in size. The peninsula is home to 270,348 people, about 52% of the province's population, according to the 2016 Ca ...

on Newfoundland's east coast. Its bedrock is

Precambrian The Precambrian ( ; or pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pC, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of t ...

-era gray and black

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

. The soil is a very stony, acidic loam with classic

podzol Podzols, also known as podosols, spodosols, or espodossolos, are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathlan ...

profile development, mapped as Turk's Cove series;

peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...

is common in poorly drained areas. The town had a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 518 in the

Canada 2006 Census The 2006 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The following census was the 2011 census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897. This count was lower ...

. The first record of settlement is found in Captain John Berry's Report to the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

in which he indicates that, in 1675, there were three fishing enterprises. These fishing crews departed from the

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, probably from the city of

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, in the early spring of each year to fish in waters near the coast; the fish would be salted and dried in structures along the shore known as stages and flakes and shipped to England in the Fall. The three fishing Captains were Hopkins, Wicksell and Peyton who, along with their crews, comprised a population of less than 100. The small boats suitable for fishing in near shore waters were constructed using local timber following ancient designs and using implements and tools whose origins can be traced to

Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or early medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Empire, Roman imperial rule in Roman Britain, Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. Compared to modern England, the territory of the ...

. The Winterton Boat Building and Community Museum, now rebranded as the Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador, has preserved these ancient techniques and tools; the museum has on display newly constructed boats as well as the tools and axe hewn timbers. The next record of settlement in Scilly Cove (Winterton) is found in the 1697 journal of

Jean Baudoin Jean Baudoin (; 1662–1698) was a French Sulpician priest who served as a missionary in Acadia, and later as a chaplain during military expeditions carried on by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. Life Jean Baudoin studied at the College of Nantes wit ...

, a priest who accompanied d'Iberville on his expedition around the coast of Newfoundland. At Scilly Cove he reported that there were four houses along with fishing structures as well as

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

, which were all destroyed before the soldiers departed. Settlers fled to the nearby forest to escape the invaders. In 2022, Grammy winning Canadian music producer,

Greg Wells William Gregory Wells (born 1968) is a Canadian record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and mix engineer. He has worked with Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Quincy Jones, J*Davey, Burt Bacharach, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Missy Elliott, ...

, purchased St. Luke's Anglican Church in the community. The church is still open to the public for religious purposes and Wells hopes to use the property to showcase local talent and raise money for the community."Greg Wells"
Grammy-Winning Music Producer Gets First Look at Winterton Church Property" July 14, 2022

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Winterton had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

* Sugarloaf Trail * Trinity South D'Iberville Trail * St. Luke's Anglican Church, now owned by Canadian music producer

References

External links

Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and LabradorWinterton - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol.5, p.599-600.
{{Authority control Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador

Demographics

Attractions

See also

References

External links