CONCEPTION BAY: Once one rounds the tip of what was labelled on the Cook and Lane Charts as "The Point of Grates", one enters the next large bay, Conception Bay.

The Point of Grates, as mentioned earlier is now known as Grates Cove and is the most northerly community on the Avalon Peninsula, located on the tip of the Bay de Verde Peninsula.

Conception Bay, and the area surrounding the bay is a highly populating area with several small and large municipalities. The following description of Conception Bay comes from the ENL:

Conception Bay cuts into the northeast portion of the Avalon Peninsula in a north-easterly direction and covers approximately 1295 km (500 mi).

Along the east coast of the Bay, from Cape St. Francis to Portugal Cove barren cliffs rise to a height of 268 m (850 ft); then the coastline changes to gentle, partly cultivated slopes tapering to salt-water lagoons behind a series of beaches.

The western shore, indented by several fiord-like inlets, ends in the Bay de Verde Peninsula, off which lies Baccalieu Island.... The Bay itself contains several islands, the three major ones being Bell Island, Little Bell Island and Kelly's Island

It is believed that the name "Conception Bay" comes from the Portuguese, Baía da Conceição Baia de Comceica. According to material presented in the ENL, the name first appears on the "Oliveriana" map that was drawn in 1505-08, and that the choice of names was to honour the Feast of the Conception, which is held annually on December 8.

Hamilton (1996) raised the possibility that the original name of the bay was "Consumption Bay" as was shown on some 17th century maps to commemorate "Assumption Day" which occurs on August 15th.

However, he writes: "Evidence favors the first theory [Conception Bay], and the name Consumption Bay possibly resulted from cartographic guess-work or poor penmanship, or both" (p. 190).

While there are many towns in the bay, the two, that are named after the bay is Conception Bay South and Conception Harbour. Other towns in the bay are described elsewhere.

Conception Bay South (CBS): According to the town's website, the town of Conception Bay South was incorporated in 1973 and is likely the town with the longest shoreline in Newfoundland as the incorporation basically resulted in 9 adjacent towns coming under one jurisdiction, making it, also one of the largest towns on the island, population wise (26,199 in 2016).

To this day, there still are signs showing where the "old" towns were, and many Newfoundlanders still refer to the areas by their "old" names. Stretching for approximately 30 km (18.6 mi), CBS includes the following towns, Topsail, Chamberlains, Manuels, Long Pond, Foxtrap, Kelligrews, Upper Gullies, Lawrence Pond and Seal Cove.

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/ConceptionBaySouth