The Monastery (Old St. Bonaventure's College)

The Monastery was designated a Registered Heritage Structure because it has historic and aesthetic values.

The Monastery has historic value because of its age and its association as the first college in Newfoundland. Catholic Bishop Right Reverend John Thomas Mullock laid the cornerstone of a college, then St. Bonaventure’s College, in 1857, to begin the first college in Newfoundland. It was officially founded and formally opened by Bishop Mullock and was so named for the Franciscan Order’s most famous and scholarly theologian, St. Bonaventure. The College was instituted as a seminary for the development of vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Courses were carried out in strict adherence to the standards of universities and colleges on the European continent. When the Bishop founded the College he opened an era of educational enlightenment that brought Newfoundland into the realm of Arts and Letters courses comparable with those granted by colleges throughout the world.

The Monastery is also historically valuable because it was designed by renowned Newfoundland architect James Purcell. Purcell is known for his work on the Roman Catholic Basilica of St. John the Baptist, the Colonial Building, Presentation Convent and Christ Church in Quidi Vidi. Purcell is also known for his association with builder Patrick Keough, who also worked on St. Bonaventure’s College.

The Monastery also has historical value because the exterior stone was obtained at public auction in 1855 when the stones brought to St. John’s from Waterford, Ireland for the new penitentiary were made available. The government had initially planned a larger penal institution, but later downsized, making the excess stone available.

The Monastery is aesthetically valuable because it is a fine example of early Georgian style in an institutional building. The building has typical Georgian symmetry, with an eight bay façade and two classical, main entrances. At each doorway there are sidelights and a heavy, stone entablature. There are three stone chimneys and a returned, exposed eave on the building. Twin, arched windows in the gable end feature Romanesque tracery, but otherwise the Monastery has a regular fenestration pattern with slightly arched openings. The rear of the building is parged and shed and arched dormers can be found placed above the eaves. Also seen only at the rear is the quoining and the 8/8 large stairwell windows with a stone sill. The building is otherwise devoid of any ornamentation or decoration.