The English Inn manor, originally called “Rosemeade”, was built in 1906 for the Yorkshire-born realtor and developer Thomas Harry Slater, who brought over artisans from England and Scotland to work on the project.  Victoria’s most renowned residential architect, Samuel McClure designed the Tudor revival home. The manor displays fine examples of the trademark characteristics of McClure’s design, including the expansive roof with large front gables and bracketing finials, stone bas and tapering columns to the roof-line, and the large paneled front hallway and grand staircase.

The manor at the English Inn is the only existing example of McClure’s work in Esquimalt, but many of his homes still grace Victoria’s streets.  One of these homes includes the Hatley Castle at Royal Roads University.

After a series of owners throughout the early part of the century, a couple from Yorkshire, Rosina and Sam Lane, purchased the 5-acre property with plans to develop an English inn and village.  They filled the house with armor and antiques and built a faithful replica of an Elizabethan street, Shakespeare’s birthplace, and Anne Hathaway’s cottage.  Craftsmen came from England to thatch the cottage roof using straw for which 13 acres of wheat where grown especially.  Anne Hathaway’s cottage continues to be a popular location for weddings and other events at the English Inn.