Conche
Modern view of Cap Rouge
Conche is located on the northeast section of the French Shore known as the Petit Nord. For millenia people have lived or camped on the Conche peninsula because its harbour is an excellent place to fish salmon and cod. Archeologists and residents have found stone tools from the pre-historic Maritime Archaic and Dorset people in the pastures and gardens surrounding Conche harbour.
Starting in the 16th century, French fishermen were a growing presence in the area with their migratory cod fishery. By the 18th century, Conche had become a large French fishing station. The back-to-back harbours of Conche and Cap Rouge (now called Crouse) were seasonal homes for as many as 2000 French fishermen and shore workers at the height of the fishery. Fishing fleets from Brittany and Normandy continued to use the harbours well into the 19thNapoleonic Wars (1803-1815), French fishing captains returned to the region to fish, hiring English-speaking guardians , to protect their fishing premises during the winter months. Towards the end of the 19th century, the French fishery dwindled and finally came to a permanent end in 1904. Guardian families multiplied rapidly and in the first quarter of the 19th century established permanent communities in Conche and Crouse. Population growth was aided by in-migration of families from southern Newfoundland who came seeking new fishing grounds and easier access to the spring seal herds.
Like many outports in this region, Conche sent men to fight in both World Wars. On November 30, 1942 the community had a brush with World War II when a Canadian Air Force plane being ferried to the United Kingdom crash landed in Conche. While no one was hurt, and much of the plane was later salvaged, the people of Conche experienced a bit of the danger of war, even from a distance. Today, visitors can see the remains of the plane along with an interpretion panel in the field where it landed near the centre of the community.
Conche was one of the last communities on the northern peninsula to get a road to the outside because of its legendarily steep Sailor Jack’s Hill. The road finally came in 1969, almost ten years after the International Grenfell Association built a nursing station in the town. In 1963, nine families from the Grey Islands relocated to Conche as part of the government Resettlement Act, boosting the population. In spite of the Cod Moratorium of 1992, Conche continues to be the home of a few fishing crews, a working fish processing plant, and a vibrant French Shore Interpretation Centre.
Conche is becoming a community noted for the embroidery work of its local women. A variety of wall hangings made by the women, using crewel work stitches to depict local stories and scenes can be viewed at the French Shore Interpretation Centre.
Conche Photos : ( Click each for full size )
1859 photograph of Conche by French photographer Paul-Emile Miot
Conche : The Battle in Martinique Bay
Martinique Bay, of which Conche harbour is a part, was the site in 1707 of a sea skirmish between French fishing ships and vessels from the British Navy, led by a Major Lloyd. Seeking revenge for the burning of Newfoundland’s English capital at St. John’s, Lloyd chased French ships along the northeast coast attacking their fishing rooms and capturing their ships. There are a number of French cannons on the bottom of Martinique bay belonging to French ships burned by their crews to keep them from falling into the hands of Major Lloyd. Although the French escaped from Lloyd at Conche, they were cornered farther north at St. Julien’s, and after a land skirmish there, they finally surrendered. In 1970 marine archeologists began a survey of the Conche wreck site that led to its eventual designation as a protected Provincial Heritage Site.
Photos : ( Click each for full size )
Diver explores the 1707 wreck site in Martinique Bay
Panorama showing Martinique Bay on the right from where the French sailors fled across the neck to Crouse Harbour on the left.