Newman Wine Vaults

Well hello, world! Tim here, with some of my recent adventures! I got to spend some time today and yesterday exploring the Newman Wine Vaults, right here in St. John's.

My first reaction to the Wine Vaults was complete shock. It's right in the middle of downtown St. John's, surrounded by shops, cars, and even a couple of skyscrapers behind it, and yet it is so timeless on the inside. While there have been small repairs here and there, a lot of the vaults are original. It felt like walking into Narnia. You stepped off of the streets hectic street of St. John's and into the 1800s.

You can see the display cases,
which are full of ancient port bottles.

The Newman Wine Vaults are named after the Newman family, who had been port shippers and merchants for centuries. The legend has it that the Newmans were trying to ship port to London in 1697 but were driven off course and wound up spending the winter in Newfoundland.

The exact age of the Vaults is unknown. The first known record of them is a map of St. John's from 1807, which includes the Wine Vaults. From archaeological excavations, it is estimated that they date back to as early as the late 18th century. In 1997, it was declared as a Provincial Heritage Structure and so it now receives much better funding to keep it alive, which is wonderful because I have never been so moved by a historic landmark as when I went there.

You can see in this photo how they used the
'barrel vault' technique here (both puns unintended).
The roof has been repaired as the vault was not made
perfectly but it is mostly original material that was
reset from my understanding. (Photo credit to
Stephanie Curran)

Getting to experience the Vaults first-hand was amazing. It is such an immersive experience. There are many stories of shipments gone wrong, pirates, and even ghost stories. Many people claim the vaults themselves are haunted. Luckily I saw nothing supernatural there, as I enjoy sleeping. They regularly hold events there such as story telling or port tasting. (I got to sample some of the port today and it is absolutely delicious. It's quite sweet.)

A small locked closet in the vaults, possibly
where nicer port was stored, or possibly just
for show. I could not find an answer on that.
(Photo credit to Stephanie Curran)

If you or someone you know would be interested in going to visit the Wine Vaults, they are at 436 Water Street in St. John's. They're absolutely wonderful and a must see for the history buffs of or visiting Newfoundland. There's actually a deal on right now to get an all access pass to all of the Provincial Heritage Sites of Newfoundland for $15, which I will hopefully get to use to visit several of them this summer.

The remnants of a bird's nest in the rafters. I appreciate
that they did not disturb it as it really adds a
certain 'je-ne-sais-quoi' to the place.

I have to give a special shout out and thank you to my friend, Stephanie Curran. For some reason or another, several of my pictures were corrupted or something of the sorts and became completely unusable. (There have been stories of ghosts in messing with camera equipment, so maybe I did find a ghost after all?) Naturally, they were the pictures I took of the architecture (my favourite pictures, really) so I borrowed a few of hers.

But yeah, that's all I have for this adventure! Stay tuned for more adventures.