The area has a mix of low and high income housing. The lower income areas of the area are closer to Richmond Road in the south, and the more affluent areas are located in the community of Britannia Village in the north, which includes the Britannia Yacht Club at the north end of Britannia Road.
Many of Britannia's old cottages live on as bungalows. It is surrounded by water, forest, and hills.
The Ottawa River Pathway is a very long segment of Capital Pathway along the south bank of almost the entire length Ottawa's portion of the Ottawa River. A bike path extends from Britannia some 12 kilometres to the Parliament buildings downtown. Today, there is probably no neighbourhood in Ottawa more mixed than Britannia forming a contrast with many of the homogenized satellite communities that have become Ottawa.[citation needed]
This land where Britannia stands was once a part of a large estate, owned by Captain John LeBreton in 1818. John LeBreton advertised the sale of real estate in the village area in 1828. LCol Joseph Bouchette referred to Lac Deschênes as Chaudiere Lake in 1832.[4] Around 1876, an apple orchard near the head of the rapids was undermined and washed away during a big flood.[5]
Britannia United Church
The Britannia Methodist Church formed in 1873 and celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2013. The Church grew out of services held in the home of Ira Honeywell, the first settler in Nepean Township. Members had been meeting in homes since 1869. In 1911, the Neogothic Britannia Heights Methodist Church was erected at Carling & Richmond. Renamed the Britannia United Church in 1925 after the amalgamation of the United Church of Canada. After her congregation moved to Britannia United on Pinecrest Road in 1961, the building was used to sell Macintosh & Watts china, to sell paintings and as a construction shack until it burned down in 1975.[6]
It was once a small mill owned by Mr John Jamieson to the west of Ottawa. A cottage town and boating club developed around the site of the old mill; Mr. John Jamieson made a pretty resort out of what was once a sand beach.
The Britannia Bay post office was established in 1889, under the community's first postmistress Mrs C Hand.
The "G.B. Greene", known as 'Queen of the River,' a double-decked side wheeler steamer built by the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company in 1896, took up to 250 passengers up the Ottawa River to Chats Falls on daily pleasure excursions. Although she was dismantled in 1946, her anchor remains at Britannia Beach today.[7][8]
In 1899, the Ottawa Electric Railway Company built a street-car line to Britannia. In 1899, the Metropolitan Power Company was formed to construct a power house just north of the Britannia Boathouse Club with a 2000-foot canal to extend to the lower end of the Lac Deschênes Rapids. The area became popular at the turn of the century because the Ottawa Gas and Electric company extended the trolley line and created an amusement park at Britannia beach to encourage users of the trolley system to use the system on weekends. A cottage and beach community resulted.
The first trip of the Ottawa Electric Railway Car 202 Britannia-on-the-Bay on the Britannia Line was January 13, 1900.[9] The electric line to the village on Britannia Bay was open for regular traffic in the spring 1900.[10]
Children's Day 1904 Britannia-On-The-Bay
By 1904, the trolley company had built a wide pier 1,000 feet long out into the river. Along the east side, there were cottages, and the Boat club house. Along the south side, the land between the road and the lake has been turned into a park, with pavilions and bath houses. The beach was ideal for bathing, since people could wade out almost to the end of the pier without danger. The village, with its two churches and neat cottages, was one of Ottawa's most fashionable suburbs in 1904. Justice Mosgrove had a 35-acre grape farm, not far from Britannia Park, on the river.[4]
Albert Bedingfield's stencil designs, now in the Library and Archives Canada collection, were published by Britannia-Bay, Ottawa, Ont. [11]
World War I recruitment ad 207th Ottawa Carleton Battalion -join at the Britannia Pier
During World War II, the Princess Alice Barracks Cabin at Britannia Bay provided a summer home for Royal Canadian Air Force (Women's Division) personnel near the Britannia Boating Club's facilities for tennis, dancing and boating. Rented from the King's Daughter's Guild of Ottawa, the cabin featured 60 beds, a separate cookhouse and dining pavilion.[12] The cabin had served the King's Daughter's Guild of Ottawa since 1913 as a Fresh Air Cottage for mothers and undernourished children.[13] After the war, the Fresh Air Cottages were rented to families as year round apartments. During a kitchen fire at the Fresh Air Cottage on December 11, 1952, Roger Murphy, aged 2 died and 26 residents were left temporarily homeless.[14] The Fresh Air Cottage on Cassels Street, was expropriated and demolished, and is now part of the conservation area around Mud Lake.
Rapid growth in all directions during the 20th century meant that it was soon surrounded by the western suburb of Nepean. Larger, modern houses were built in between cottages. Nowadays it is simply an out-of-the-way part of west end of Ottawa, featuring among other things Barks and Bubbles dog-washing business, Regina Street Public School, a movie theatre complex, Britannia Baptist Church,[15] a Britannia Conservation area centred on the National Capital Commission's (Mud Lake), and Britannia beach.
Although Thomas Ahearn's hydroelectric project was abandoned as unfeasible, the unfinished canal was used in 1951 by Past Commodores Thomas G. Fuller and Reginald G. Bruce with volunteer labour provided by Club members as the basis of the Britannia Yacht Club protected harbour. Today, the BYC harbour provides 250 wet moorings, fuel and pump out facilities, for both sail and power boats.
The Britannia Water Purification Plant, commissioned and constructed between 1958 and 1961, is one of two water purification plants that serve the City of Ottawa's residents. The 23,000 m2 plant, which is situated on 18.7 hectares of city property draws from the Ottawa River and treats an average of about 175 megalitres of water a day.
The neighbourhood has a perhaps one of its kind 1967 EXPO style dome covering a local children's hockey rink that made it to the top 500 architecturally significant buildings in Canada in 2002 as voted by CIRA.
In 1976, an article in the Ottawa Citizen described real estate prices in Britannia and in the older Britannia Bay area: semi detached houses ($48,000), duplexes ($65–70,000), 3 & 4 story apartment buildings and is surrounded by highrises; 15 three story townhouses on Kehoe ($95–100,000); older converted cottages ($38–45,000); and two story townhouses on Bradford rented for $250–300 a month. In 1976, schools in the neighbourhood included Regina Public School, Grant School (now closed) and St. Leonard's School. [16]
The neighbourhood and, is the former home of the Ottawa Folk Festival at Britannia Park.
In 2003, Canadian Hydrographic Service published "1550, Britannia Bay to Chat Falls", which was 4 maps on 1 sheet; Previous editions of the cartographic material were produced in 1961, '62, '69, '73, '77, '82, '86, and '96.[17]
In 2003, the City of Ottawa erected a Heritage Designation plaque for William Murphy House, 127 Britannia Road.[18] The house sustained major damage during a fire in April 2020, killing all three residents.[19]
In 2010, the City of Ottawa erected a Heritage Designation plaque for Old St. Stephen's Church, 181 Britannia Road. "Built in 1892, Old St. Stephen's Church was one of two churches built to serve the fashionable 19th century resort community of Britannia, and is the only one remaining today. A vernacular interpretation of the Gothic Revival style, it features the pointed-arch windows and door, simple rectangular form and tower commonly associated with the style. Old St. Stephen's Church is now a private residence."[20]
Sports
The Britannia Yacht Club was established in 1887. The Club house still retains its historic appearance. Members of the club have won many championships and Olympic gold medals. Canada's only Gold medal winner from the 1936 Summer Olympics, Frank Amyot, paddled these waters in the 1920s and 1930s. The Club's Dragon Lounge's bar was fashioned out of a dragon sail boat.
Thomas Ahearn, was instrumental in the development of a 2000-foot canal just north of the Britannia Boathouse Club to generate electricity; The canal is now used by the Britannia Yacht Club as a sheltered harbour.
Dick Bell, a member of the Canadian House of Commons owned a farm "Fairfields", situated on Britannia Bay. The Dick Bell Park, which houses the Nepean Sailing Club was named in his honour.
Captain Thomas G. Fuller was a Canadian naval officer who earned renown in the Second World War for his actions as a member of the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy. His estate was the Moorings across the street from the Britannia Yacht Club. He converted a former tugboat, G.B. Patee II, (1904), into a brigantine tall ship, the STV Black Jack. In the 1980s, he designed and built a brigantine, the STV Fair Jeanne, which was named in honour of his wife. Today, the ships are flagships of the Bytown Brigantine sail training program.
Ezekiel Stone Wiggins, a teacher, amateur meteorologist and his wife, writer Susie Anna Wiggins built Arbour House, a Designated Heritage Property 1994, as their summer home. Currently housing the Arbour House Studios, 105 Britannia Road, the corner tower, shingled gables and irregular plan are typical of the Queen Anne Revival-style.[22]
Paul Wyczynski, Ottawa University Professor. In 1968 he was named Professor of the year. From 1963 to 1969 he was a member of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. In 1988 he was knighted by the French government, was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993, was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit by the government of Poland in 2001 and was awarded the Lorne Pearce Award by the Royal Society of Canada in 2006. Over his career he authored and co-authored more than 65 books and numerous articles. He was a proud and dedicated resident of Britannia for almost 50 years until his death in 2008.
Bruce Kirby 3 time Olympian in sailing. Designer of the single-handed Laser dinghy to the 12-meter class Louis Vuitton Cup yacht, Canada One. Member of the order of Canada and sailing hall of fame.
STV Black Jack, brigantine tall ship at Britannia Yacht Club
The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Westboro is an area in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Located along the Ottawa River, Island Park Drive defines Westboro's eastern border, while the Ottawa River defines its northern border. Under this definition, the population of the area is 22,725.
Ottawa West—Nepean is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997.
Mechanicsville is a neighbourhood in Kitchissippi Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located to the west of downtown and bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the O-Train Trillium Line to the east, Scott Street to the south, and Parkdale Avenue to the west. East of Mechanicsville is LeBreton Flats, Tunney's Pasture is directly west, and Hintonburg is to the south. The total population of the neighbourhood as of the 2011 Census was 2,205.
Britannia is the Latin name for Britain, used as the female personification of Britain.
Sand Point is a community in the township of McNab/Braeside, Ontario, Canada, along the Ottawa River, roughly six miles to the west of Arnprior on the River Road. During the 1860s and early 1870s it was the terminus of the Canada Central Railway. At one point Sand Point boasted a hotel, a dance hall, a general store, and a post office.
Bells Corners is a suburban neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located along Robertson Road west of downtown, within Ottawa's western Greenbelt, in College Ward. As of the Canada 2016 Census, the community had a population of 9,272.
The Nepean Sailing Club (NSC) is a sailing club located on Lac Deschênes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The club is based in Dick Bell Park, along Carling Avenue, adjacent to Andrew Haydon Park in the former city of Nepean.
Crystal Beach is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the west end of Ottawa, in Bay Ward. The neighbourhood is triangular in shape, and its boundaries can broadly be described as Carling Avenue to the northeast, Moodie Drive to the west, and Corkstown Road to the south. It is. According to the Canada 2011 Census, the total population of the neighbourhood was 2,416.
Bay Ward or Ward 7 is a municipal ward in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada represented on Ottawa City Council. It covers much of the western portion of the old city of Ottawa as well as some portions of what was once Nepean. The ward runs from Sherbourne and Maitland in the east to March Road in the west. The southern border is the Queensway while the northern border is the Ottawa River. The ward makes up the northern portion of the federal and provincial riding of Ottawa West—Nepean.
STV Black Jack is a brigantine operated by the Ottawa-based youth charity Bytown Brigantine, Inc. Black Jack sails on the Ottawa River between Brittania Yacht Club and Quyon, Quebec. On May 2, 2004, Black Jack was designated "Ottawa's Signature Tall Ship".
Lac Deschênes is a 44 kilometres long lake on the Ottawa River that runs from the Chats Falls Dam near Fitzroy Harbour in the west to the Deschênes Rapids at Britannia in the east. It is a little over 3.2 kilometres wide at its widest point and little more than a few hundred metres at its narrowest. The provincial border between Ontario and Quebec runs through the length of the lake with the City of Ottawa on its southern shore and the city of Gatineau on much of its northern shore.
Ottawa Electric Railway Company was a streetcar public transit system in the city of Ottawa, Canada, part of the electric railway streetcars that operated between 1891 and 1959. Ottawa once had tracks through downtown on Rideau Street, Sparks Street and others, and extended outside of the downtown core to provide services that helped form communities such as Westboro, Old Ottawa South and The Glebe. Prior to this, starting in 1866, public transportation was provided by Ottawa City Passenger Railway Company, a horse-drawn tram service. The O.E.R. was taken over by the Ottawa Transportation Commission in 1948, which was itself succeeded by OC Transpo in 1973.
Thomas George Fuller (1908–1994) was a Canadian captain of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve who earned renown in the Second World War for his actions as a member of the Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy in European waters. Born in Ottawa, Fuller joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1939 and was seconded to the British Royal Navy. During his service with the Royal Navy he commanded motor torpedo boat flotillas in European waters, serving with distinction in the Adriatic Sea where he earned a Distinguished Service Cross and two bars along with the nickname "Pirate of the Adriatic." Following the war, Fuller commanded two Canadian Naval Reserve Divisions before retiring in 1952. Following his military service, Fuller ran Thomas Fuller Construction which was instrumental in the construction of several landmark buildings in Ottawa. He was also a member of Ottawa's Britannia Yacht Club and converted and built two brigantines that would later be used for sail training. Fuller died in Ottawa at the age of 85.
The Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) is a private social club, yacht club, and tennis club based in Britannia, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 by a group of cottagers.
Foster Farm, nicknamed "the Farm", is a neighbourhood in the Britannia area of Bay Ward in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded to the north by Richmond Road, to the east by Pinecrest Road, to the west by the former Ottawa/Nepean city limits and the south by the Highway 417, the Queensway. It is bordered by Fairfield Heights, Queensway Terrace North, Redwood, Michele Heights. The total population of this area according to the 2016 Canada Census was 3,636.
Britannia United Church is a United Church of Canada congregation in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. One of Ottawa's oldest congregations, members had been meeting in homes since 1869. The Britannia Heights Methodist Church formed in 1873. It joined the United Church when it was formed in 1925. In 1925, Britannia became officially Britannia United Church. The Britannia United Church has operated out of Pinecrest Road location since 1961.
Belltown is a neighbourhood in the Britannia area of Bay Ward, in the west end of Ottawa. It is bounded on the east by Britannia Park, on the north by the Ottawa River, on the west by Andrew Haydon Park and the south by Carling Avenue. Prior to Ottawa's amalgamation in 2001, the neighbourhood spanned the Ottawa-Nepean municipal boundary. The neighbourhood's population is 2089, with 294 people living in the Nepean portion.
Britannia Village has a rich history and architecture, having been founded some eight years before Bytown, the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The history of the village is interwoven with the creation of the adjacent Britannia Amusement Park, today simply known as Britannia Park. The character of villagers is significantly influenced by its natural surroundings.
↑ Population calculated by adding Census Tract 5050030.00 (removing Dissemination Area 35061196 and Dissemination Block 35061256007) with Dissemination Blocks 35060648003, 35060648001, 35060648002, 35061289003 and Dissemination Areas 35060649, 35060647.
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