Located on the Lancey Bank Cove, an inlet of Lawn Bay on the Burin Peninsula, roundabouts are common in Newfoundland that is the kind of "roundabouts" that refer to the "circular intersection designed for improved traffic flow traveling at slower speeds" in which, "traffic travels in a counter-clockwise direction around a center island".

Roundabouts are so common on the island that the NL Government has a website dedicated to owners of automobiles on "how to use a roundabout" without encountering any difficulty.

Roundabout, the town, however, was settled long before automobiles were invented. Local lore reports that there was a settlement there as early as 1830, however, according to ENL sources, the community first appears in the Census separately from "Lawn and coves" in 1891, with a population of 29 in four families.

It is believed by many that the town's name may have been "descriptive of the settlement, ranged on steep slopes above a small, rounded beach", others, though are of the belief that the town's name "could also be a corruption of a French phrase," rends about', which translated into English means "sail to the end".

It is believed that Lancey Bank is a corruption of the French name, I.'Anse au Barque, which translates as "Ship Cove".

While the town of Roundabout is still shown on maps published by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the town no longer "exists" having been resettled in the 1969, when the main highway was "rerouted" inland, thereby "cutting" off it from its neighboring communities.

It is likely that some residents of Lawn continue to visit the area where some of them maintain cabins.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/Roundabout