The Adam's Cove Methodist School Hall Registered Heritage Structure and Pilley's Island Methodist Church, Churchyard and School Registered Heritage Structure have played important roles in their communities.
Heritage NL has recognized the significance of these two properties and their contribution to highlighting the history of Methodism in the province by designating them as registered heritage structures.
Adam’s Cove
Adam's Cove Methodist School Hall is an early 20th century mixed use building. It housed classrooms on the ground floor and a community hall in the upper storey. It is the best preserved example of a building type once found in nearby Blackhead and at Winterton in Trinity Bay. Designed by John Ayre, the building exhibits Palladian stylistic elements. Of particular note is the use of decorative pressed tin panels on portions of the interior.
Adam's Cove Methodist School Hall has been continuously operated by a local committee for more than 100 years.
Pilley’s Island
Pilley's Island Methodist Church, Churchyard and School are an excellent example of a traditional arrangement of ecclesiastical buildings.
The church was built in a vernacular Gothic Revival or Carpenter's Gothic style. The building was constructed in about six months following destruction by fire in June 1896 of an earlier Methodist church.
Unique decorative and structural metalwork was sourced from a forge at the nearby copper and pyrite mine that was once a major regional employer.
The school building also latterly functioned as a Loyal Orange Lodge.
Together, the church, churchyard and school were the physical hub of the Methodist religion in the community.
According to Jerry Dick, executive director of Heritage NL, "While the individual elements of this designation are relatively simple, it is the combination of components — a church, school and cemetery, all of which are in well-preserved condition — that makes it special.
“These tell of the important role that the church used to play in education in Newfoundland and Labrador."
The site is currently operated as Pilley’s Island Heritage Centre.
For more information, refer to the links to the Heritage NL website:
