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St. Augustine's Church and nearby Church of England school were the heart of the communities along the Burnt Head Trail, offering a place for neighbours to gather and share stories together weekly.
Many of the families who lived nearby were Anglican, and attended St. Augustine's Church in Burnt Head on Sundays. St. Augustine's was one of several Anglican churches built at Burnt Head. The first was started in the 1700s and was located where the cemetery is today.¹ The church was moved to accommodate the need for more space in the cemetery, and a larger building was constructed for a growing congregation.
The building you see today was constructed in 1911. It replaced an earlier church that was destroyed by fire in 1910. The new church could seat about 400 people and was often filled to capacity.² According to Cupids resident Bob Bishop, more people lived in the communities near the shores of Burnt Head than further inland. St. Augustine's was built in a location to be equally convenient to all its congregants.
Building the 1911 church was a community effort. George Morgan and his son Fred reportedly hauled more than 400 cartloads of rock from a quarry at Deep Gulch to build the foundation of the church.³
A handful of Roman Catholic families were living in the communities along the Burnt Head Trail, but there was no Roman Catholic church. It is believed that the Roman Catholic families worshipped in the local Roman Catholic school or made their way over the hills to nearby Brigus to attend the Roman Catholic church there.⁴
St. Augustine's church was a place of socialization as much as a place of worship for the people of Burnt Head. It hosted many organizations that helped strengthen the community, such as the Church of England Women's Association and the Sunday School. Listen to Bob Bishop reminisce about how the church was the heart of the community.
It was the centre of the community. I mean, I can remember when we would go to church, all the elder gentlemen in the community would be outside by the gates with their hats on and their full dress and their pipes going. That's where all the news got told. And then when the bell would ring, the church bell meaning that it was time to go in for service, they'd all go in through the gate and knock the ashes out of their pipe on the gate. I can see them doing it now, right. So, it was the centre of the community.
– Bob Bishop
The schools were also important places for community gatherings. The Church of England school taught not only the Anglican children of the Burnt Head Trail area but some of the Roman Catholic children, as well. The Walshes were a Roman Catholic family in Deep Gulch, and they sent their children, for a while, to the Church of England school. It is likely this was due to convenience—it was much closer to walk to than the Roman Catholic school in Burnt Head.
The schools were the scene of events such as dances, Christmas concerts, church suppers, and "Sales of Work." People would break out their fiddles and their accordions for the dances and, reportedly, play and dance into the wee hours of the morning. In the Roman Catholic school in Burnt Head, kerosene lamps would be lit and the desks pushed to the sides of the room in order to make space for dancing.⁵
The styles of dance were the Newfoundland square dance and reels. Former resident Martha LeDrew says that her father forbade her from attending the dances at the Roman Catholic school because people were allowed to drink alcohol (unlike at the Church of England events).⁶ The Church of England dances were sometimes held in the Fisherman's Union Hall, since it had more space.
At Sales of Work, people would auction goods they had made, grown, or acquired, to raise money for the church and schools. Vegetables or dry goods might be on offer, or crafts such as knitted goods. These events were often followed by a supper of pork and cabbage—and tea.
¹ Interview with Bob Bishop by Katie Crane, June 4, 2021.
² Daily News, August 18, 1962.
² Daily News, August 18, 1962.
³ Interview with Cecil Morgan by Kelly Butler, August 20, 1997, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
⁴ Renelle Bishop, "The Abandoned Communities: Greenland, Noder Cove and Deep Gulch," August 6, 2000, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
⁵ Interview with John Fowler by Kelly Butler, August 6, 1997, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.
⁶ Interview with Martha LeDrew by Kelly Butler, August 8, 1997, Cupids Historical Society, Cupids Legacy Centre.