Britannia Saloon

The Royal Britannia Saloon and Britannia Tavern opened on Easter Monday 1841 at 115/117 High Street, in Hoxton, London. Located in an Elizabethan tavern accommodating about 1,000 people, the Britannia was notable for staging melodramas. By 1858, the theatre was rebuilt to hold 3,000 seats. It was badly damaged by a fire in 1900. A London Borough of Hackney historic plaque now marks the site.

Coordinates

Latitude: 51.531950500000
Longitude: -0.080170300000

View on the COVE Master Map

Timeline of Events Associated with Britannia Saloon

Date Event Manage
1 Mar 1847

The String of Pearls, or the Fiend of Fleet Street premiered

Title Page of Sweeney ToddOn 1 March 1847, George Dibdin Pitt’s melodrama The String of Pearls, or the Fiend of Fleet Street (the first play to introduce Sweeney Todd to the stage, adapted from the The String of Pearls: A Romance) premiered at the Britannia Saloon. In 1883, a significantly altered version was published as Sweeney Todd: The Barber of Fleet Street, or The String of Pearls in Dick’s Standard Plays. Image: Title page of Sweeney Todd, or The String of Pearls, Dick’s Standard Plays No. 499. Theatre Collections, Templeman Library, University of Kent, UK. Used with permission.

Articles

Sharon Aronofsky Weltman, “1847: Sweeney Todd and Abolition”