HISTORY
Who we are....Where we come from.....The Domesday book records Stiffkey as Stivecai, which means "island of tree stumps". This is thought to relate to the remains of an ancient wooden structure dating back 8,000 years, that was found on the marsh.
The Red Lion started life in the 1600's as an Inn (called The Red Lion) before taking turns as a house, a pub, a house again, a doctor's surgery, a house, and finally again, a good old fashioned Village Inn. The best things come to those who wait!!!
The Village of Stiffkey is probably most famous for it's former vicar, the Reverend Harold Davidson who was defrocked in 1932 for allegedly courting prostitutes in London. The Rev. Davidson was hugely popular in the area and is still held in high regard by those who knew him. The Reverend was one of the first to be caught by a media sting; who photographed him emerging from indoors one morning with a lady of the night, Miss Barbara Harris, who subsequently sold her sordid story.
Revd Davidson was originally commended by the Bishop of London for his missionary work with the prostitutes in London, but it seems it was his other missionary position that got him defrocked. With a new found celebrity status, Harold Davidson protested his innocence for the rest of his life, and eventually joined the circus, where his life was ultimately ended by an altogether not too friendly lion (not red!!).
Henry Williamson, author of Tarka The Otter, lived by the River in Stiffkey and there is a plaque on the wall marking the site.
Beware of Black Shuck! A huge dog, with a gold collar and red eyes haunts the marsh at night, attacking anyone who dares go there. At least that's what the smugglers wanted you to think when they were landing contraband at Stiffkey in the dead of night. The Legend of Black Shuck has been turned into a song by The Darkness and was the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.