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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 7
by Edward B. Jelks IntroductionDuring the summers of 1965 and 1966 several areas within the boundaries of Signal Hill National Historic Park, St. John's, Newfoundland, were explored archaeologically in order to determine what, if any, material remains might have survived of the military installations that formerly occupied the hill. Work was concentrated in three areas, the Queen's Battery, where cannon protected the entrance to St. John's harbour from the 1790s until the 1860s or thereabouts; Lady's Lookout, one of the highest spots on the hill where an observation post was maintained from the mid-18th till the mid-19th century, and an area between Signal Hill and Gibbet Hill on which the new Interpretation Centre was subsequently built. Purposes of the excavations were: (1) preconstruction exploration of the Interpretation Centre area to ensure that no important archaeological remains were endangered by construction; (2) appraisal of the developmental potential of Lady's Lookout and the Queen's Battery for interpretation to park visitors, and (3) recovery of artifacts and other data of general value to archaeological studies of British colonial sites. Nothing of consequence was found in the Interpretation Centre area, but significant finds were made at both the Queen's Battery and Lady's Lookout. This report describes the geologic and cultural deposits at each area; provides a description of each major building, building foundation, or other structure excavated; describes and enumerates the artifacts found, and gives the provenience of the artifacts. The concluding section is a summation of the finds and their significance. Finds were recorded by the standard system of operations, suboperations, and lots customarily employed for archaeological field work by the National Sites Service, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. In addition, buildings and other structures were numbered individually (structures 1, 2, 3, and so on), even though a single structure might embrace a number of different operations. Specific spots within the park were located in terms of coordinate distances in the cardinal directions from an arbitrarily selected base point. All measurements were in feet and tenths of feet. The Hill Beginning north-northeast of St. John's at Torbay and running south is a chain of towering hills that fronts the Atlantic for a distance of some nine or ten miles (Fig. 3). In order from north to south, the chain comprises the White Hills, Signal Hill, and the South Side Hills—a rocky triumvirate that presents a sheer, rugged face to the pounding surf. Nestling behind the hills in a comfortable sheltered position is St. John's harbour, an elongated embayment of deep water that connects with the Atlantic through a narrow passage leading off one end (Figs. 1, 2). This passage, known as the Narrows, separates Signal Hill from the South Side Hills.
The top of Signal Hill proper consists of a narrow ridge aligned north-northeast and south-southwest (Figs. 1, 3). On the seaward side, the face of the ridge descends abruptly to a deep trough, Ross' Valley, which parallels the ridge several hundred feet below. On the land-ward side, the terrain slopes downward less steeply to George's Pond. The highest point on the hill—more than 500 ft. above sea level—is at the north end of the ridge in the area known as Lady's Lookout. From that point the surface of the ridge steps down in a series of small plateaus for a lateral distance of perhaps a thousand feet, then drops steeply down to the Narrows. Bordering the north edge of the Narrows is a precipitous cliff running westward from the south end of the main ridge at a lower elevation. The Queen's Battery was situated on top of that cliff at a spot commanding both the Narrows and the harbour (Fig. 11). Gibbet Hill, a small eminence, lies west of the Queen's Battery area, across the swale in which the new Interpretation Centre is located.
The bedrock at Signal Hill is of the Signal Hill Formation, Cabot Group (Rose 1952:22-7). The age is not known with certainty as fossils are absent, but because of its stratigraphic position Rose considers it of Precambrian age, possibly late Proterozoic.
Striations and polish produced by glaciers were noted at several places on Signal Hill during the archaeological explorations (Fig. 5).
History*
The wealth of protein food readily available on the Grand Banks was being exploited by European fishermen from several countries by the early 16th century, or even possibly in the late 15th century. From the beginning, Grand Banks fishermen sought shelter in the magnificent harbour at St. John's, and some of them built temporary shacks along the shore. Little is known about the early years of St. John's but by 1760 it had attained a permanent population estimated at 1,100 persons and contained about 300 houses. The seasonal influx of fishermen swelled the population to 10,000 in the summers. At the northeastern edge of town stood Fort William (established shortly before 1700)—its defences poorly kept, its soldiers inadequately armed—overlooked by the commanding height of Signal Hill. Despite its obviously strategic importance to the security of Fort William, Signal Hill had no fortifications at all in the mid-18th century. Nevertheless, the hill's value as a lookout station was recognized by 1750 or earlier. From the main ridge, ships approaching the Narrows from any direction could be seen miles away. When one appeared, the lookout stationed there ran flags up the signal tower to alert Fort William that friend or foe, as the case might be, was approaching (Richardson 1962). In June, 1762, during the Seven Years' War, a French expeditionary force appeared at St. John's, and Fort William was surrendered without resistance. The French captured a number of other towns in Newfoundland at the same time. A British force under the command of Colonel William Amherst was speedily organized and dispatched to recapture the fort. Staffed mainly with troops from New York and Nova Scotia, Amherst's force stormed a small French detachment on Signal Hill on the night of 15 September 1762 and captured the hill. Positioning guns on Signal Hill and Gibbet Hill, Amherst began to bombard the fort, and two days later the French surrendered. Thus went the Battle of Signal Hill, the last land engagement of the Seven Years' War. But even after the battle had demonstrated unequivocally that control of Signal Hill was the key to the defence of Fort William and St. John's, no effort was made to fortify the hill until more than 30 years later. Finally, however, in 1795, a blockhouse was erected in the Lady's Lookout area, and over the following 50 or 60 years, plans for extensive fortifications on Signal Hill were alternately drafted, discarded and revised, construction was begun then abandoned, but the plans were never brought to completion. At one time it was planned to make an impregnable keep out of the hill, to which beleaguered troops from Fort William could retreat if need be. To that end, a start was made on scaling the cliffs to make them vertical all the way around Lady's Lookout. But most of the plans came to naught, which perhaps was just as well, for no engagements were fought at the hill after 1762. During Signal Hill's period of greatest activity—1795 to the mid-19th century—three main batteries were maintained most of the time: the Queen's Battery, the Duke of York's Battery, and North Point Battery. The historical record is vague as to when the batteries and soldiers were finally withdrawn from the hill; probably it was in the 1860s. Cabot Tower was erected in 1898 and, perpetuating tradition, has continued to be used as a lookout station up to the present day. Temporary buildings and gun positions were installed on Signal Hill during both World War I and World War II. Two Quonset huts erected during World War II are still in use for storage at the park. In 1958 the hill and its environs became Signal Hill National Historic Park.
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