Cromer Lifeboat Station is an
RNLI station located in the town of
Cromer
Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline.
The local government authorities are Nor ...
in the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
county of
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 ...
. The station operates two
lifeboat
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
...
s - one for inshore work and the other for offshore work.
The current lifeboat station on the end of
Cromer Pier
Cromer Pier is a Grade II listed seaside pier in the civil parish of Cromer on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk, due north of the city of Norwich in the United Kingdom. The pier is the home of the Cromer Lifeboat Station and ...
was re-built between 1997 and 1999 to replace the smaller 1923 one which was re-located to
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 ...
in
Suffolk where it is used as a lifeboat museum. The new boathouse cost approximately £3 million which was funded by bequests and private donations.
Cromer lifeboat history
Retrieved 2 March 2010 Cromer Lifeboat station is one of the most famous of the lifeboat stations operated by the RNLI.[Cromer Lifeboat, A pictorial history, By Nicholas Leach & Paul Russell, Pub; Landmark Collector’s Library, ]
There has been a lifeboat service operated from Cromer for two centuries - predating the establishment of the RNLI. The volunteer crews at Cromer have gained a record of gallantry stretching back to the beginnings of the RNLI. Some of the most notable rescues and service have been carried out by famous coxswains such as Henry Blogg and Henry "Shrimp" Davies and their crews. To date there have been awards of 45 Bronze medals, 8 Silver medals and 3 Gold medals.
History
In the early days of the station the lifeboats were kept outdoors on the east jetty. From 1804 the privately operated service was funded by a subscription fund which was administered by a local committee led by Lord Suffield, the third baron of Gunton Hall. Other dignitaries on the committee included George Wyndham of Cromer Hall, Thomas Mickleburgh, a local merchant, Joseph Gurney, a Cromer draper and Benjamin Rust who was a grocer. This was the situation of the service until 1857, when with the lifeboat organisation falling into financial troubles and the lifeboats falling into a bad state of repair, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution took over the Cromer station along with other Norfolk Association stations. By this time the association had built a lifeboat house which once stood some 100 yards from the high-water mark close to what is now the inshore lifeboat station. The RNLI altered and renovated this station at a cost of £46.2s.7d.["Cromer Lifeboats 1804-2004", Leach, Nicholas & Russell, Paul, Pub: Tempus Publishing, 2004, ] but by the mid-1860s this station had outlived its usefulness and a new boathouse was planned. The new site was on the east gangway and in 1867 work started on the new station. The new boathouse work also included building an extension to the sea walls and a slipway across the top of the beach. The work cost £476.4s.0d and was carried out by a local builder by the name of E. Simmons. The cost of the station was met by Benjamin Bond Cabbell
Benjamin Bond Cabbell FRS FSA FGS DL (1782/83 – 9 December 1874), was a British politician and philanthropist.
Life
He was educated at Westminster School in London. He studied at Oriel College, Oxford from June 1800, but left the universit ...
who had also bought the new lifeboat for the station.
Fleet
The station operated two offshore boats from 1923. The second boat was replaced by an inshore lifeboat (ILB) in 1967.
All-Weather lifeboats
No. 2 lifeboat
When the station received its first motor lifeboat, a No. 2 station was established located in the old boathouse. It was closed in 1967 when the station received an inshore lifeboat.
Inshore lifeboat
Gallery
File:Old Lifeboat station Cromer 16 01 2009 (1).JPG, The old lifeboat station that now houses the ILB at Cromer
File:Lifeboat House at Southwold.jpg, The 1923 boathouse, that was replaced with the present one in 1999, can now be seen at 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 ...
in Suffolk
Image:Cromer Pier Lifeboat Station2.jpg, RNLB ''Lester''
File:Cromer Lifeboat 1998.jpg, The Cromer Mersey-class Lifeboat "Her Majesty the Queen" (ON1189, temporarily on station during boathouse rebuilding) on the beach at Cromer near the old lifeboat station
See also
*List of RNLI stations
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stations are the bases for the RNLI's fleet of search and rescue lifeboats that cover the coastal waters around the entire British Isles, as well as major inland waterways.
The service was establi ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cromer Lifeboat Station
Lifeboat stations in Norfolk
Cromer