When I started researching Burgh Island Hotel for my deep dive, I didn’t expect to find much as it’s a well-trodden path. I actually ended up with a lot of material that suggested the story told of the building’s history doesn’t match the contemporary secondary sources. That meant some early material on the island’s appearances on film were left on the cutting room floor.

This list captures the times the film or tv crews went to Burgh to make drama, in chronological order.

Trousers (1920)

In August 1919, British film star Queenie Thomas lived on Burgh Island for a month along with a film crew. They stayed in the getaway home of George Chirgwin, a musical hall star. He’d bought the island in 1914 and built a wooden “chalet style” 12-bedroom house on it. Queenie was there to make the silent film Trousers.