Description of Historic Place

Sited on a rocky outcrop along the west coast of Newfoundland, the Lobster Cove Lighthouse is a white, straight-sided structure of cast-iron construction. A prominent lantern, capped with a domed roof and weather vane, tops the cylindrical lighthouse. The site also contains the lightkeeper’s house and a shed. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse illustrates the development of safe navigation for local shipping and fishing along the Newfoundland coastline. Its construction demonstrates the colony’s final acceptance of its responsibilities to the people who lived and worked on the west coast of the island.

Architectural Value
A good example of a prefabricated component tower as it appeared in Newfoundland at the turn of the 20th century, the elegant Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse is a well-proportioned, functional structure. Its locally cast iron shaft exhibits very good craftsmanship and materials.

Environmental Value
The Lobster Cove Head Lighthouse, which is a part of the Lobster Cove Lightstation with two other support buildings, reinforces its picturesque, maritime setting. It is a familiar structure to the surrounding community.

Sources:
Sally Coutts, Lobster Cove Head Lightstation, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report 89-044; Lobster Cove Lightstation, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland, Heritage Character Statement, 89-044.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Lobster Cove Lighthouse should be respected.

Its good aesthetic design, very good functional design and craftsmanship and materials, for example: its well-proportioned and elegant massing, consisting of a plain shaft, prominent lantern, domed roof and weather vane; its prefabricated cast-iron construction; the simple four-paned windows on the tower.

The manner in which the Lighthouse reinforces the character of its maritime setting and is a familiar landmark, as evidenced by: the picturesque qualities of its design and form, which complement the natural environment; its dominant role in the lightstation complex; the high visibility of the Lighthouse to passing sea going vessels and its role as one Gros Morne National Park’s interpretive tools.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

The Lobster Cove Head Lightstation has three buildings: the lighthouse was constructed in 1897; the lightkeeper's house, also constructed in 1897; and the shed, constructed in 1950 to replace an earlier building.

The shaft of the lighthouse was cast by the Victoria Iron Works of St. John's, Newfoundland and the lantern by the Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England. The house was designed and built by local labour. The shed, however, was designed by the architects of the Canadian Coast Guard to blend with the original 1897 structures.
The lightstation is located within the boundaries of Gros Morne National Park and now forms a part of one of the park's interpretive displays. The federal Department of Transport, Canadian Coast Guard continues to own and operate the lighthouse but transferred the lightkeeper's house and the shed to Environment Canada Parks Service in 1976. See FHBRO Building Report 89-44.

Reasons for Designation
The Lobster Cove Head lighthouse was designated Recognized because of its historical association, its functional design and aesthetic qualities, and its environmental values.
The Lobster Cove Head Lightstation illustrates the development of safe navigation for local shipping and fishing along the Newfoundland Coastline. Its construction demonstrates the colony's final acceptance of its responsibilities to the people who lived and worked on the west coast of the island.
The Lobster Cove Head lighthouse, with its locally-cast tower and its historic lantern made by the famous Chance Brothers firm, is a good example of the prefabricated component tower as it appeared in Newfoundland. Its aesthetic value is considerably aided by its critical position on a rocky outcrop.

The three buildings; the lighthouse, the lightkeeper's house and the shed have formed the nucleus of the site since the establishment of the lightstation.

Character Defining Elements
The heritage character of the lightstation is defined by the elegant and simple proportions of its three structures, excellent workmanship and construction materials, and in the relationship of the buildings to the site.


The lighthouse is characterized by a straight-sided, cast iron structure that sits upon a

plain cement foundation. The placement of two simple four-paned windows in the tower, one just beneath the lantern, and the other mid-way down the shaft, contribute to the aesthetic qualities of the structure. The prominent lantern, simple with slightly curved windows separated by vertical bars is capped with a domed roof and a weather vane. The elegant proportions of the tower and its lantern should be preserved.
The lightkeeper's house is characterized by a two storey wood frame structure, sheathed in clapboard and painted white with a salt-box roof, irregular fenestration and an enclosed front porch. The house is a pleasing structure whose design and execution should be carefully preserved, as it reflects local housing traditions, particularly in the use of sash windows, its roofline and its simplicity. The interior layout, which reflects its original function, should be retained.

The storage shed is characterized by a gable roofed clapboard structure featuring double doors along its short end, and irregularly placed doors and windows along its other facades. This functional structure was designed, as other future structures should be, to fit with the original buildings.

All three structures on the site should be maintained in their present form, colour and condition.

The site itself is very picturesque and has rocky outcrops and a clump of trees that contribute to its special maritime character. New developments should be discouraged from encroaching on the site, and any new element required for interpretive purposes should, in no way, detract from the historic integrity of the site.