Town Of Tilting: Dwyer Fishing Premises

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Dwyer Fishing Premises

Tilting is one of the last Newfoundland outports where you can view the full range of buildings associated with the family-based inshore fishery. Located on the eastern side of the harbour, the Dwyer Premises is situated on a peninsula that is connected to an island called "The Rock", and consists of a house, store, flakes and a stage and is remarkable in its location because of it's proximity to the water.

The House was built by Vincent Bryan between 1890 and 1900, and then purchased by Albert Dwyer in 1925. The layout is typical of Tilting's "center hall type plan". On the first floor there is a kitchen, living room, and pantry with a back kitchen and porch. On the second floor there are four small but cozy bedrooms. Small rooms, low ceilings, and exposed beams are common in the traditional structure. The house is filled with replica furniture, of the traditional design, that is made from one-hundred year old pine wood.

The store (shed) was owned by Louis Burke. It was located on Greene's Point and was floated to the Dwyer Premises for restoration. It was used mainly to store fishing nets, and then later as a stable for horse, sheep, and chicken. Inside the stage there is a rectangular hole in the middle of the ceiling that separates the first and second floor, and was used to saw plank and lumber. To do this one person stood on the loft (second floor) and one man stood on the first floor, using a two-sided pit saw and a rhythmical motion, they easily sawed through the wood.

The stage is an original part of the Dwyer Fishing Premises and won the Southcott Award in 2000, for excellence in the preservation of the architectural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador. Before you enter you may notice a circular ornament and a horseshoe on the door. The white circle provided a sparkle in the evening, against the red background, and helped members of the household find their way towards the stage in the evening dusk. The horseshoe's purpose was to provide good-luck during the fishing season. Inside the stage you will find all the items necessary for the processing of fish by hand such as a splitting table, cod-liver oil barrel and a puncheon barrel.

Dwyer Fishing Premises

For more pictures of the Lane House and the Dwyer Fishing Premises, click here.