A few called her ‘Olivia’. Some called her ‘The old lady of the sea’. Most called her ‘Britannia’.
For almost 30 years, Olivia Parkes lived in a former boathouse on stilts, at the mercy of the sea and the elements, on a beach near Ventnor, Isle of Wight. The boathouse had no running water, electricity, or sanitation.
It had not been maintained during Olivia’s occupancy. The structure was dilapidated and the timbers were rotting. A hole in the roof and broken glass in the windows made ‘Britannia’s Hut’ far from watertight, and by the 1950s it was declared uninhabitable.
An object of intense curiosity
From her arrival in Ventnor shortly after World War One, right up to the present day (more than 60 years after her death), Olivia Parkes has remained an object of intense curiosity for residents and visitors alike due to her extraordinary abode.
Folk tales about Olivia persisted long after her death, some even originating from Olivia herself, and affording endless fascination for visitors.
New book tells the extraordinary story
A new book by Michael Freeman and Robert Trowbridge tells the extraordinary story of one of Ventnor’s most talked-about characters.
Meticulously researched, and with much new material made available by Olivia`s family in Canada, this book is a sensitive and yet compelling account of the life of a remarkable woman.
Available from Ventnor Heritage Centre, the book is priced £9.95. Alternatively you can purchase online from W.J. Nigh & Son.
News shared by Bob, in his own words. Ed
