Hunstanton Lifeboat Station

Hunstanton Lifeboat Station
RNLI Lifeboat Station
Hunstanton Lifeboat Station
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Country	England
County	Norfolk
District	West Norfolk
Town	Hunstanton
Location	Sheringham Lifeboat Station, Sea Lane, Old Hunstanton, Norfolk, PE36 6JN
- coordinates	52°57′14.62″N 0°30′9.53″E / 52.9540611°N 0.5026472°E / 52.9540611; 0.5026472Coordinates: 52°57′14.62″N 0°30′9.53″E / 52.9540611°N 0.5026472°E / 52.9540611; 0.5026472
Founded	1824 taken over by RNLI in 1867
Date	Current boathouse 1900
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Hunstanton Lifeboat Station is an RNLI operated lifeboat station located in the village of Old Hunstanton in the English county of Norfolk. This is the only lifeboat station on the east coast of England which faces westward, being positioned on the east side of the square-mouthed bay and estuary known as the Wash.

The station current has two lifeboats at the station. A B-class Atlantic 85 lifeboat, Spirit of West Norfolk (B-848), since 23 May 2011 and the Hovercraft, Hunstanton Flyer (Civil Service No. 45) (H-003).

The first lifeboat station to be established in Hunstanton was formed by the Norfolk Shipwreck Association in 1824. This Association supplied the first lifeboat and also built the first lifeboat house. A Mr Samual Gilman was at this time acting land agent for the local land owner Henry Le Strange of Hunstanton Hall. He received notification that the association wished to construct a new boathouse next to an existing building used by the local Life Preservation service. This new boathouse was described as being built of stone and was 30 foot long and 12 foot wide. There are no records to show if this first lifeboat was used to rescue anyone.

In 1867 the RNLI took over the running of the station A new boathouse was constructed close to the original boathouse which had at some point been demolished. This boathouse was home to the first two RNLI lifeboats to serve at Hunstanton. A local committee was formed to run the station and a Mr Preedy was appointed as the stations first honorary secretary. A crew for the lifeboat was also recruited. The first lifeboat on placed on the RNLI station was the Licensed Victuallers. She was funded from donations by the Licensed Victuallers’ Lifeboat Fund and was on station from 1867 to 1887. The lifeboat, its transporting carriage and all the stores for the new lifeboat station were transported to Hunstanton on the train with the expense being absorbed by the Great Eastern Railway Company, this being a standard practice by this company during this time period. The lifeboat was launched 21 times and saved 86 lives. The second lifeboat was the Licensed Victuallers II (ON 169) which was also funded in the same way and was on station from November 1887 until July 1900.