Ferryland

George Calvert, later Lord Baltimore, founded the Colony of Avalon here in 1621 and lived through one Newfoundland winter before deciding the climate was intolerable and moving south to found Maryland. What he left is exceptionally well preserved under later soil: excavation since 1992 has uncovered a cobblestone street, a stone quay, a defensive wall, a forge and a stone privy with a flushing system fed by the tide, unusually sophisticated for the period. Digging continues each summer and visitors can watch. At the lighthouse on the headland, a business makes picnic hampers that people carry out and eat on the grass above the sea.

What you actually see

• The cobbled street - a 1620s road uncovered under later ground.
• The tidal privy - a stone latrine flushed by the sea.
• The working excavation - archaeologists digging through the summer.
• The lighthouse picnics - hampers eaten on the headland grass.

When to go

June to September for the dig and the site; excavation runs in summer only. The lighthouse picnics need booking and operate seasonally in good weather.

Honest expectations

The site closes for winter and the dig only runs in summer. Foundations require interpretation to read. Lighthouse picnics are cancelled in fog and wind, which is often.

Nearby

Witless Bay lies north; Cape Race is south.