Grand Bruit
Grand Bruit (often pronounced "Grand Brit") is an abandoned small coastal village in Southern Newfoundland. It used to be accessible by ferry. The community, which had a population of 31 when it was abandoned in 2010, was divided down the middle by a waterfall, hence the name "Grand Bruit" which is French for "great noise."
Understand
Grand Bruit is on the rugged and sparsely-populated southern coast of Newfoundland, an area whose topography (largely fjords) is ill-suited to road building. A tiny outport reachable only by sea, Grand Bruit relied heavily on the Atlantic cod fishery. The collapse of cod stocks in the early 1990s brought economic decline and local population dropped sharply. The nearby village of Petites, accessible only by sea on the coastline between Rose Blanche and Grand Bruit, was abandoned in 2002.
By 2007, the Grand Bruit village schoolhouse was closed. In 2010, the provincial government paid the last inhabitants to leave, implicitly extending a controversial pattern in which three hundred tiny Newfoundland outport villages in awkward, difficult-to-service locations were abandoned as ghost towns between 1954-1975.
Unlike most earlier outport abandonments (where wooden saltbox houses were loaded onto barges and moved to other outports by sea), Grand Bruit's 31 residents left houses and furnishings behind; some return seasonally to use the buildings as cottages.
Get in
The road eastward from Port aux Basques ends at Rose Blanche. It was once possible to continue east to Grand Bruit by provincial coastal ferry, but (as of July 8, 2010) the boat no longer stops here. There are at least two main docks in the village; one served the local fishery and the other the coastal ferry. Access remains possible by cruising on small craft.
Get around
There were no cars or automobile roads in Grand Bruit, but lovely paved walking roads. There were a few 4x4 ATV's in the village when it was a populated place; these are now gone.
See
- A number of small ponds surround the community, including one that feeds the prominent local waterfall.
- "Cramalot Inn" was a local gathering place where you could bring your own drinks. The building is little more than a former 10' x 10' wooden fishing shed, white with red trim.
- A Grand Bruit All-Grade School, a church and cemetery are abandoned but still standing.
Do
There is excellent hiking around Grand Bruit. Paths are often absent or not in great shape, but many are marked.
Buy, eat and drink
There is no store, restaurant, bar or discotheque in Grand Bruit. The last store closed its doors in 2007.
Sleep
There are several great camping spots in Grand Bruit. Next to the village church, which is adjacent to the waterfall, a small camping spot is available that can fit a 2 to 4-person tent.
The closest operational B&B is in Rose Blanche.
Connect
The village post office closed in 2008, electric power was removed when the village was abandoned in 2010. Grand Bruit is off the grid.
Go next
- Rose Blanche and Port aux Basques to the west
- Sandbanks Provincial Park and Burgeo to the east