Holy Island village from the causeway
The Cottage and part of the present Britannia House appear on the 1792 map of Holy Island – the oldest map available. The first recorded owner is Thos. Walker in 1765.
Professor Sheddick, a social anthropologist who researched the history of many of
the buildings on Holy Island, tells us that its early history is ‘unclear’. However,
the layout of The Cottage suggests that it was built as a public house, with a corridor
running into the Britannia House sitting room. It is likely that the present Britannia
House was extended as a separate house fronting on to the village green some time
in the mid-
In Castlereigh, the adjoining building on the west side, there are steps in the cellar that led up into The Cottage at some time.
In Parson and Whites Directory of 1828, it appears as the ‘Britannia Inn’, owned by Thos. Wilson, victualler. A visitor to the Island around that time noted that:
There are seven inns or public houses in the village,
some of them very convenient
and respectable.
We don’t know if Britannia Inn was included in the latter!
‘Britannia’ was a popular ship’s name of the time, and it is possible that the inn sign (of which the current sign is a replica) was originally a ship’s name board. The Wrecks Map shows three ships named Britannia wrecked off the Farne Islands at different times.
In 1881 Robert Lilburn, innkeeper, sold the Britannia Inn, which seems by this time to have comprised both Britannia House and The Cottage, to Robert Douglas, gentleman. The deed of Indenture is shown on the wall, and marks the end of the Britannia Inn – Robert Douglas occupied the property as a private house.
From the early 1900s the property was owned by the Patterson family, and was used as a boarding house, and as a tea room. In the 1950s, the sitting room in Britannia was licensed to seat 10 persons. The upstairs bedroom served as a sitting room for the family. The Patterson family occupied the property until 2002.
Britannia House and The Cottage
