Canada Guide
Newfoundland and Labrador
The Commissariat House
Address: Kings Bridge Road
Opening time: June– Sept daily 10am–5.30pm
Price: $3
Perky dormer windows and pastel-painted clapboard adorn the Commissariat House Provincial Historic Site. Dating from the early nineteenth century, this comprises the home and offices of the assistant commissary general, who was responsible for keeping the British garrison paid, fed, watered and clothed. The most intriguing rooms are the clerk's office, into which the soldiers entered by a side door to collect their wages, and the small sewing room upstairs, where there are two tiny paintings by Turner. The coach house out at the back completes the ensemble. The British garrison left St John's once and for all in 1871 and the Commissariat House then became the rectory for the adjacent Anglican Church of St Thomas, a wooden structure of 1836 whose sturdy tower and main entrance face onto Military Road.