Thought to be named after the Britannia Inn which stood at the junction of the old highway and the new turnpike road. Before the turnpike road of 1754 the old highway from Bacup ran via Tong Lane, Slack Gate farm Causeway house under the bridge known today as Nanny Brow and passed Trough Gate farm joining the Turnpike road at the Travellers rest.

 

 

 

At the time of the Brandwood survey in 1820 there were no dwelling houses whatever shown in Britannia. But by 1844 building had begun, New line, named after the " New railway line " originally Trough gate and Lee Mill branch of the Rochdale and Burnley trust appears as do nine coal mines and a factory on the site of the present Britannia Mill.  Britannia Inn was built 1821 and comprised a beer house, stable and three cottages. In 1921 it became the Britannia working men's club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1869 Britannia was still described as a Hamlet with just one cotton mill named Britannia Mill, built in 1840 by Messers Sutcliffe and Smith. Mr William Sutcliffe lived at Hempstead's in Bacup and was also the owner of the Bacup Corn Mill. Mr Smith of Bankside was the owner of Tong Mill.

 

 

In a  cottage at the corner of Sutcliffe Street and Rochdale road in 1852 gathered members of the Wesleyan Methodist Association, regularly walking the 2 miles from Bacup to Britannia. Later acquiring a  building  that would be known as "Th up steps chapel"  which later became a grocers for James Duckworth's.

 

 In the summer of 1873 the Wesleyans opened their first day school, which was eventually taken over by Bacup School Board on 1st September 1894 and was used up until the new Britannia County Primary school opened in 1928. Beulah United Methodist Free Church opened its doors in March 1885, but was destroyed by fire in October 1892 and rebuilt in 1894.

 

 

 

 

Britannia could boost the highest station on the Lancashire and Yorkshire branch when the line opened in 1881. The station closed as a economy measure in 2 April 1917 thirty years before the Bacup and Rochdale line closed. The last train in 1940 was marooned at Britannia and was snowbound for 5 days.