![Oulu, finland - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Oulu%2C_finland_-_panoramio.jpg)
A beach hut (also known as a beach cabin, beach box or bathing box) is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide t ...
mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming attire and for the safe storing of some personal belongings. Some beach huts incorporate simple facilities for preparing food and hot drinks by either
bottled gas
Bottled gas is a term used for substances which are gaseous at standard temperature and pressure (STP) and have been compressed and stored in carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, or composite bottles known as gas cylinders.
Gas state in ...
or occasionally
mains electricity
Mains electricity or utility power, power grid, domestic power, and wall power, or in some parts of Canada as hydro, is a general-purpose alternating-current (AC) electric power supply. It is the form of electrical power that is delivered to h ...
.
Locations
![BeachHousesMuizenbergBeach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/BeachHousesMuizenbergBeach.jpg)
At many
seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
s, beach huts are arranged in one or more ranks along the top of the beach. Depending upon the location, beach huts may be owned privately or may be owned by the local council or similar administrative body. On popular beaches, privately owned beach huts can command substantial prices due to their convenient location, out of all proportion to their size and amenity. A pre-war wooden beach chalet at
West Bexington
West Bexington is a village in south-west Dorset, England, sited just behind the Chesil Beach about southeast of Bridport. It forms part of the civil parish of Puncknowle. The coast here is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
His ...
, Dorset sold at auction for £216,000 in 2006, and a beach hut on
Mudeford Spit
Mudeford ( ) is a harbourside and beachside parish based on a former fishing village in the east of Christchurch, Dorset, England (historically in Hampshire), fronting water on two sides: Christchurch Harbour and the sands of Avon Beach.
The Riv ...
sold for £170,000 in 2012, where prices have risen above £270,000 by 2017. However these were exceptional as in both cases overnight stays were possible.
[Frith, Maxine]
The tide turns against beach huts as charges erode seaside property prices
''The Independent'', March 25, 2005. Accessed September 14, 2015. Prices in 2009 for typical huts around the UK started from £6,000 in
Walton on the Naze
Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of H ...
and typically up to £35,000., In January 2016 a beach hut was sold in Brighton, Victoria, Australia for a record $285,000.
An April 2021 report provided an update on this category: "the average asking price for a beach hut in Britain has shot up from £25,578 to £36,034" in a single 12 months.
Today there are believed to be around 20,000 beach huts in the U.K. Locations where beach huts can be seen include
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...
,
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...
,
Walton-on-the-Naze
Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast and (as Walton le Soken) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of Ha ...
,
Frinton-on-Sea
Frinton-on-Sea is a seaside town and (as just Frinton) a former civil parish, now in the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district of Essex, England. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 4,837. In 1931 the parish had a populati ...
,
Abersoch
Abersoch is a village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort, with around 800 residents, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about ...
,
Langland Bay
Langland Bay is a popular coastal holiday resort in Gower Peninsula, Gower, Swansea in south Wales. It is a popular surfing beach which regularly meets the European Blue Flag beach, Blue Flag award for quality.
History
Langland Bay - together ...
,
Rotherslade
Rotherslade is a small stretch of sandy beach at the eastern end of Langland Bay in the south Gower Peninsula, Wales. Previously known as 'Little Langland', it only exists as a separate beach at high tide. At low tide it is continuous with ...
,
Rustington
Rustington is a small town and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex. Rustington is approximately at the midpoint of the West Sussex coast and midway between the county town of Chichester and Brighton. The A259 runs along the north ...
,
St Helens, Isle of Wight
St Helens is a village and civil parish located on the eastern side of the Isle of Wight.
The village developed around village greens. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say it is the second largest. The greens are often us ...
,
Tankerton Slopes
Tankerton Slopes is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Whitstable in Kent. It is part of the Tankerton Slopes and Swalecliffe Special Area of Conservation
This north facing slope has a population of tall herbs, including the l ...
and
Mersea Island
Mersea Island is an island in Essex, England, in the Blackwater and Colne estuaries to the south-east of Colchester. Its name comes from the Old English word ''meresig'', meaning "island of the pool" and thus is tautological. The island is s ...
. Locations in other countries include
Wimereux, France, spectacular colorful picturesque in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Nesodden, Norway and
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
and elsewhere around
Port Phillip, Australia.
Holhiashi are small
Maldivian resting places usually found only in the
Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
. These small beach huts can be found near beaches or harbours.
History
The noted
bathing boxes at
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
in Australia are known to have existed as far back as 1862.
The bathing boxes are thought to have been constructed and used largely as a response to the
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of the middle class in 19th-century Britain, the Victorian era.
Victorian values emerged in all classes and reached all facets of Victorian living. The values of the period—which can be ...
of the age, and are known to have existed not only in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
but also on the beaches of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and Cape Town at around the same time.
They had evolved from the wheeled
bathing machine
The bathing machine was a device, popular from the 18th century until the early 20th century, to allow people to change out of their usual clothes, change into swimwear, and wade in the ocean at beaches. Bathing machines were roofed and walled woo ...
s used by Victorians to preserve their modesty.
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
gave royal approval to the new fashion when he took a medicinal bath at Weymouth to the musical accompaniment of ‘God Save the King.’, while
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
installed one at
Osbourne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat. Albert designed the house himself, in t ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
in the 1840s.
Felixstowe in Suffolk is believed to have had beach huts from at least 1891.
In the early 20th century, beach huts were regarded as "holiday homes for the toiling classes", but in the 1930s their image revived,
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
and
Queen Mary spent the day at a beach hut in
Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
, and other owners have included the Spencer family and
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
.
[ During ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
all UK beaches were closed, the reopening in the late 1940s and 1950s led to resurgence of the British beach holiday and the heyday of the Beach Hut.
While many beach huts were former fishermen's huts, boat-sheds or converted bathing machines, some of the earliest purpose built beach huts in the UK were erected at Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, either side of Bournemouth Pier in 1909. Designed by F. P. Dolamore, Bournemouth's Borough Engineer, they were offered for hire for £12 10s per year. 160 huts, or bungalows as they were styled, were initially built before the World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Today, Bournemouth features around 520 huts owned by the Council; there are in addition a further 1200 privately owned huts. They vary in style from the traditional, wooden, shed-like constructions to the ultra modern, concrete terrace style huts such as the 1950s Overstrand beach huts at Boscombe
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne.
Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...
. These were renovated to designs by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, founders of the Red or Dead
Red or Dead is a fashion designer and manufacturer, started in London in 1982 by married couple Gerardine Hemingway and Wayne Hemingway. They design products such as shoes, spectacles, bags and watches.
History
In 1982, Wayne and Gerardine ...
label, as Beach Pods for the Surf Reef opened in Autumn 2009.
Notable huts
The Queen's beach hut in Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
was destroyed by fire in 2003. The building had been owned by the Royal Family for 70 years and was known to be much loved by the Queen. More recently the artist, Tracey Emin
Tracey Karima Emin, Order of the British Empire, CBE, Associate of the Royal Academy, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawi ...
, sold her Whitstable beach hut to the collector, Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi (; ar, تشارلز ساعتجي; born 9 June 1943) is an Iraqi-British businessman and the co-founder, with his brother Maurice, of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi. The brothers led the business – the world's largest a ...
, for £75,000.[ This hut was also destroyed by fire when the warehouse where it was stored burnt down. In April 2011 Bournemouth Council obtained planning permission to site a beach hut "chapel" on the sand to host ]wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
and civil partnership
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
ceremonies. The "super beach hut" is located on Bournemouth's beach under the West Cliff lift.
The Truck Surf Hotel
The Truck Surf Hotel is a two-story, five-room bed-and-breakfast hotel built onto a Mercedes Actros truck chassis, which serves the surfing community by following the waves from beach to beach along the coasts of Portugal and Morocco in a weekly ...
is a five-room bed-and-breakfast
Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...
built onto a truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
, which serves the surfing
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
community by moving from beach to beach along the coasts of Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
in a weekly cycle.
Gallery
See also
* Tiny house movement
The tiny-house movement (also known as the small house movement) is an architectural and social movement that advocates for downsizing living spaces, simplifying, and essentially "living with less."Ford, Jasmine, and Lilia Gomz-Lanier. Family an ...
* Bach (New Zealand)
A bach (pronounced 'batch' ) (also called a crib in the southern half of the South Island) is a small, often modest holiday home or beach house in New Zealand. Baches are an iconic part of the country's history and culture. In the middle of the ...
* Bathing machine
The bathing machine was a device, popular from the 18th century until the early 20th century, to allow people to change out of their usual clothes, change into swimwear, and wade in the ocean at beaches. Bathing machines were roofed and walled woo ...
* Boatshed
Boatsheds are generally lockable wooden sheds, often brightly colored, that were originally built to securely store small private boats and bathing materials directly on beaches. They are similar in appearance to beach huts (or "bathing boxes"), wi ...
* Cabana
References
External links
British Seaside History
BBC Discovering Southwold - Beach Huts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beach Hut
Huts
Marine architecture
Coastal construction
Hut
A hut is a small dwelling, which may be constructed of various local materials. Huts are a type of vernacular architecture because they are built of readily available materials such as wood, snow, ice, stone, grass, palm leaves, branches, hid ...
Tourist accommodations