Rip Rap Rock Piles

Trail Map

Though mostly pasture now, the community of Rip Raps once was home to many families, including the Anthonys, Hurleys, Laraceys, Noseworthys, Puddisters, Richards, and Snows.¹ Like the communities on Burnt Head, Rip Raps was settled because of its proximity to the fishing grounds. The community encompassed nearby Caplin Cove, where caplin could be gathered in season to be used as both food and fertilizer for gardens.² The land in Rip Raps was excellent for farming, and there was never a shortage of vegetables. 

The curious name may refer to the piles of rock and stone that this area has in abundance. E.R. Seary's Place Names of the Avalon Peninsula suggests that "rip rap" is a nautical term denoting narrow underwater hills or the motion of the tide against the wind, and that the term comes from the term Riff Raff.³ It may also refer to a foundation or wall of stones and other rubble thrown together. "Rip-rap" is used today to refer to the rocky material placed along shorelines, bridges, or railroad tracks to prevent erosion.⁴ When hiking to the top of Spectacle Head, you'll see remains of rock walls and piles of stones that were cleared by hand from the fields.

View north from Spectacle Head across the abandoned community of Rip Raps.
Old field and property boundaries (black lines) can be seen and the road between Cupids and Salmon Cove.
Wide stone walls and rock piles (stripes) testify to the back-breaking work of clearing fields for crops.

Rip Raps was quite isolated. People had to walk down the steep road around Spectacle Head to nearby Cupids to get goods they could not supply themselves—and then climb back up again. Children had a long walk to and from school every day, coming down over the shoulders of Spectacle Head and going around the harbour to the United Church school. It could be a dangerous trek in winter. 

This isolation eventually led to the abandonment of the community. It was simply more convenient for people to move down off the hill and into Cupids. The last family had left by 1943.

¹ Interview with William Norman by Kelly Butler, July 31, 1997, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
² "Life in the Abandoned Settlements of Cupids," Tammy Mason, August 31, 1998, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
³ Seary, E.R. Place Names of the Avalon Peninsula of the Island of Newfoundland. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1971.
⁴ Chris Park. "Rip‐rap." A Dictionary of Environment and Conservation. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Virtual Tour

Acknowledgements