Murray 1, Interior Entrance Door Open, Portugal Cove-St. Phillips

• Main Author: Pomeroy, Julie
• Format: Still Image
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Migration/settlement; Objects; Architecture; building and construction; Buildings; Outbuildings; Root cellars; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/ich_nature/id/543

Root Cellar owned by Mike Murray on Portugal Cove Road, Portugal Cove-St. Phillips. Cellar was built by his great grandfather Patrick Murray in 1820. Murray’s ancestors resettled in Portugal Cove in 1820 from Grates Cove. The cellar was built prior to the house and is also attached to the house. It is a shed structure and originally had a hatch entrance along with a separate entrance from inside the house. The hatch entrance has been removed leaving only access from inside the house. There is also what seems to be a storage space built into the inside of the cellar. The cellar is a stone structure that measures approximately 3.5m x 5m. Cellar has been in continuous use since it was built. The cellar was originally used to store vegetables, meat, pickled meats and preservatives, milk and milk products, with the shed portion being used as a work area/butchering house. Today it is used for vegetable storage that is purchased from local farms as well as for forcing bulbs, cuttings, and other gardening processes.