Watton Property
The Watton Property is located in Petley on Random Island along the Bonavista Peninsula. This property, owned by Everett and Wilson Watton, is comprised of a gambrel roof fish store, a wharf and a stage head, as well as a herring smoker. The Wattons applied to the Fisheries Heritage Preservation Program in 2003 so that they could restore the stage head and wharf, and repair the exterior of the store.
Random Island's early industries consisted of fishing, lumbering, shipbuilding, quarrying brickmaking and subsistence farming. The inshore codfishery was the most important part of Random Island's fishery, but the Labrador fishery and the lobster fishery were also important. There were also a few minor fisheries, such as the herring fishery and the caplin fishery, which were popular for a time. The Watton Property was used for the prosecution of some of these fisheries.
Built quite recently the store was erected in 1961 and restored in 1978. Wilson Watton said of the structures, “The stage was used for salting fish in the ‘60s and ‘70s. In the early ‘80s there was a smoker added for smoking herring and caplin…..there was also a twine store….All sheds used today mostly for storage.”
At the onset of the project the store required painting and glass and window replacement. The roof needed to be reshingled and flashing replaced. New shingles were installed on the roof and one end of the store was repaired where it joined to another building. The store was then stained with an oil based stain. The stage head needed to be replaced as the foundation was in poor condition. It was completely dismantled both by hand and excavator and rebuilt with new rock and cribbing.
The Wattons realized that getting a level base for the stage head block was problematic, particularly since work was best accomplished at low tide. “So it would be stable on the bottom (we) had to put a mark on the arm of the excavator”, said Watton. They were also very aware of the importance of the stage head to the area as it was what protected the main foundation of the stage from arctic ice.
The Wattons completed the restoration in July, 2004. The resulting efforts of their work show a stable and useable stage head and store that will be around for many more years to come.
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