Cromer Lifeboat Station

Cromer Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Cromer in the English county of Norfolk.^[1] The station operates two lifeboats – one for inshore work and the other for offshore work.

Cromer Lifeboat Station
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Cromer Lifeboat Station, Cromer Pier, Cromer, Norfolk
Country	England
Coordinates	52°56′3.4″N 1°18′5.84″E / 52.934278°N 1.3016222°E / 52.934278; 1.3016222
Opened	1804 as Norfolk Shipwreck Association
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Technical details
Material	Fabricated steelwork and concrete

The current lifeboat station on the end of Cromer Pier was re-built between 1997 and 1999 to replace the smaller 1923 one which was re-located to Southwold 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.^[2] Cromer Lifeboat station is one of the most famous of the lifeboat stations operated by the RNLI.^[3]

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.^[3] 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.^[3] 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.^[3] 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.^[4] 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^[3] 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^[3] and was carried out by a local builder by the name of E. Simmons.^[3] The cost of the station was met by Benjamin Bond Cabbell^[3] 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

Dates in service	Class	ON	Op. No.	Name
1804–1830	Greathead-class
1830–1858	Greathead-class
1858–1868	Peake-class
1868–1884	34 ft Self-Righter			Benjamin Bond Cabbell
1884–1902	Cromer-class	ON 12		Benjamin Bond Cabbell II
1902–1923	Liverpool-class	ON 495		Louisa Heartwell
1923–1924	Norfolk and Suffolk-class	ON 670		H F Bailey (renamed to John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood when transferred)
1924–1928	45ft Watson-class	ON 694		H F Bailey
1928–1929	45ft 6in Watson-class	ON 714		H F Bailey II
1929–1935	45ft Watson-class	ON 694		H F Bailey
1935–1945	46ft Watson-class	ON 777		H F Bailey III
1945–1966	46ft Watson-class	ON 840		Henry Blogg
1967–1984	48ft 6in Oakley-class Mk.II	ON 990	48-03	Ruby and Arthur Reed
1984–1985	46ft 9in Watson-class	ON 926		Guy and Clare Hunter
1985–1996	Tyne-class	ON 1097	47-006	Ruby and Arthur Reed II
1996–1999	Mersey-class	ON 1189	12-30	Her Majesty The Queen (Carriage launched during boathouse rebuilding)
1999–2007	Tyne-class	ON 1097	47-006	Ruby and Arthur Reed II
2007–2008	Mersey-class	ON 1162	12-004	Royal Shipwright (Carriage launched during slipway rebuilding)
2008–present	Tamar-class	ON 1287	16-07	Lester

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.

Dates in service	Class	ON	Op. No.	Name
1923–1931	Liverpool-class (P&S)	ON 495		Louisa Heartwell
1931–1934	Liverpool-class (P&S)	ON 514		Alexandra
1934–1964	Liverpool-class	ON 770		Harriot Dixon
1964–1964	Liverpool-class	ON 834		Jose Neville
1964–1967	Oakley-class	ON 980	37-13	William Henry and Mary King

Inshore lifeboat

Dates in service	Class	Op. No.	Name	Photo
1967–1970	D-class (RFD PB16)	D-101	unnamed
1970–1971	D-class (RFD PB16)	D-26	unnamed
1972–1984	D-class (RFD PB16)	D-197	unnamed
1984–1992	D-class (EA16)	D-307	Spirit of Roundtable
1992–2002	D-class (EA16)	D-436	Chloe
2002–2011	D-class (EA16)	D-568	Seahorse III
2011–present	D-class (IB1)	D-734	George & Muriel

Gallery

•  

  The old lifeboat station that now houses the ILB at Cromer

•  

  The 1923 boathouse, that was replaced with the present one in 1999, can now be seen at Southwold in Suffolk

•  

  RNLB Lester

•  

  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

References

1. OS Explorer Map 252 – Norfolk Coast East. ISBN 978-0-319-23815-8.
2. Cromer lifeboat history 28 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2 March 2010
3. Cromer Lifeboat, A pictorial history, By Nicholas Leach & Paul Russell, Pub; Landmark Collector’s Library, ISBN 978-1-84306-363-6
4. "Cromer Lifeboats 1804-2004", Leach, Nicholas & Russell, Paul, Pub: Tempus Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7524-3197-8