Presentation Convent Grounds Municipal Heritage Site

The Presentation Convent Grounds have been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Renews/Cappahayden due to their historic, cultural and aesthetic values.

The historical values of the Presentation Convent Grounds lie in their association with the expansion of the Presentation Order in Newfoundland and Labrador. In St. John’s in 1833, the Presentation Order established the first English-speaking convent in what would become Canada. From modest beginnings in St. John’s, the Presentation sisters gradually expanded to rural areas, seeing to the educational needs of generations of young Newfoundlanders. On August 9, 1876, members of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Presentation convent were moved from Admiral’s Cove (now port Kirwan) to Renews, with the construction of a proper convent and school building to follow. The annuals of the convent from 1877 report that, “the Convent School was opened. Sixty five children were in attendance.” By the following summer there were more than one hundred pupils registered. A monument has been erected on the site, acknowledging the work of the Presentation Order in Renews.

The site is also a reminder of a way of life that is quickly changing in communities along the Southern Shore. In this largely Roman Catholic region, many families have relatives who chose a religious vocation. It was a source of great pride to have a daughter in the sisterhood or a son a priest. Presently, is it extremely rare for young people to enter into a religious life and in their daily lives younger generations experience little of the influence of the Roman Catholic faith as their parents and grandparents had.

The Presentation Convent Grounds have cultural value because the site is a physical reminder of the influence of the Presentation Order in the community of Renews and the role it played in the education of the community’s youth. It is a reminder of a time when education in Newfoundland and Labrador was conducted largely under the leadership of religious institutions. On the Southern Shore, where the majority of the population is Roman Catholic, many were taught by members of religious orders. On June 20, 1981, four days after Renews school was closed for summer break, the convent at Renews was officially closed and the keys turned over to the Generalate in St. John’s, the conclusion to more than a century of education in Renews under the guidance of the Presentation sisters. The convent itself was demolished in 1986. The community of Renews places a great cultural value on the green space where the convent once stood, seeing it as a symbol of an earlier time that saw the church involved in many spheres of community life.

The Presentation Convent Grounds have aesthetic value due to their environmental setting. Located at the foot of Midnight Hill and nestled between Holy Apostles Church, the old rectory and the Grotto de Lourdes on Mass Rock, it lies at the centre of a large plot of land recognized in its totality as church grounds. From these manicured, groomed grounds there is an unobstructed view of Renews Harbour.