Beach hut
Encyclopedia
A beach hut is a small, usually wooden and often brightly coloured, box above the high tide
mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming costumes 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 or occasionally mains electricity.
At many seaside resort
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
, Dorset sold at auction for £216,000 in 2006, and beach huts on Mudeford Spit reached £140,000. However these were unusual as in both cases overnight stays were possible. Prices in 2009 for typical huts around the UK ranged from £6,000 in Walton on the Naze to £130,000 for those at Mudeford.
Today there are believed to be around 20,000 beach huts in the U.K. Locations where beach huts can be seen include Lowestoft
, Southwold
, Walton-on-the-Naze
, Abersoch
, Langland Bay
, Rotherslade
, Rustington
, St Helens, Isle of Wight
, and Mersea Island
. Locations in other countries include Wimereux, France
, Cape Town
, South Africa
and Brighton
and elsewhere around Port Phillip, Australia
.
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The noted bathing boxes at Brighton
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
of the age, and are known to have existed not only in Australia but also on the beaches of England, France and Italy at around the same time.
They had evolved from the wheeled bathing machine
s used by Victorians to preserve their modesty. George III
used a bathing machine at Mudeford
in 1801, while Queen Victoria
installed one at Osbourne House
on the Isle of Wight
in the 1840s.
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
and Queen Mary
spent the day at a beach hut in Sussex, and other owners have included the Spencer family and Sir Laurence Olivier. During World War II 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, boatsheds or converted bathing machines some of the earliest purpose built beach huts in the UK were erected at Bournemouth
, 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 first world war. The Council believes that some of the original huts are still standing, including the oldest hut number 2359 which is marked with a blue plaque, although the majority were renewed in the 1950s and 1960s. 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
. These were renovated to designs by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, founders of the Red or Dead
label, as Beach Pods for the Surf Reef
opened in Autumn 2009.
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
, sold her Whitstable beach hut to the collector, Charles Saatchi
, 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
and civil partnership ceremonies. The "super beach hut" is located on Bournemouth's beach under the West Cliff lift.
Tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon and the sun and the rotation of the Earth....
mark on popular bathing beaches. They are generally used as a shelter from the sun or wind, changing into and out of swimming costumes 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 or occasionally mains electricity.
Locations
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
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
West Bexington is a village in south west Dorset, England, situated on the Chesil Beach six miles south east of Bridport.The village of West Bexington provides access to the Chesil Beach. The West Bexington nature reserve is one of the Dorset Wildlife Trust's few coastal reserves...
, Dorset sold at auction for £216,000 in 2006, and beach huts on Mudeford Spit reached £140,000. However these were unusual as in both cases overnight stays were possible. Prices in 2009 for typical huts around the UK ranged from £6,000 in Walton on the Naze to £130,000 for those at Mudeford.
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
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
, Southwold
Southwold
Southwold is a town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located on the North Sea coast at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around south of Lowestoft and north-east...
, Walton-on-the-Naze
Walton-on-the-Naze
Walton-on-the-Naze is a small town in Essex, England, on the North Sea coast in the Tendring district. It is north of Clacton and south of the port of Harwich. It abuts Frinton-on-Sea to the south, and is part of the parish of Frinton and Walton. It is a resort town, with a permanent population of...
, Abersoch
Abersoch
Abersoch is a large village in the community of Llanengan in Gwynedd, Wales. It is a popular coastal seaside resort with approximately 1,000 inhabitants, on the east-facing south coast of the Llŷn Peninsula at the southern terminus of the A499. It is about south-west of Pwllheli and south-west of...
, Langland Bay
Langland Bay
Langland Bay is a popular coastal holiday resort in Gower, near Swansea in south Wales. In the right conditions, it is one of the best surf beaches in Britain...
, Rotherslade
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 Langland Bay....
, Rustington
Rustington
Rustington is a seaside resort and civil parish near Littlehampton in West Sussex. Rustington is centrally situated on the West Sussex coast almost midway between the cathedral city of Chichester and Brighton. For local government purposes, it forms part of the Arun district of the administrative...
, St Helens, Isle of Wight
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 is based around village greens. This is claimed to be the largest in England but some say the Village Green is the second largest. The greens are often used for cricket matches during the summer...
, and Mersea Island
Mersea Island
Mersea Island is the most easterly inhabited island in the United Kingdom, located marginally off the coast of Essex, England, to the southeast of Colchester. It is situated in the estuary area of the Blackwater and Colne rivers and has an area of around...
. Locations in other countries include Wimereux, France
Wimereux
Wimereux is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.-Geography:Wimereux is a coastal town situated some north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the banks of the river Wimereux. The river Slack forms the northern boundary of...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Brighton
Brighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
and elsewhere around Port Phillip, Australia
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
.
History
Brighton, Victoria
Brighton is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 11 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Brighton had a population of 20,651...
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
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
of the age, and are known to have existed not only in Australia but also on the beaches of England, France and Italy at around the same time.
They had evolved from the wheeled bathing machine
Bathing machine
The bathing machine was a device, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries, to allow people to change out of their usual clothes, possibly change into swimwear and then wade in the ocean at beaches. Bathing machines were roofed and walled wooden carts rolled into the sea...
s used by Victorians to preserve their modesty. George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
used a bathing machine at Mudeford
Mudeford
Mudeford was originally a small fishing village in the borough of Christchurch, Dorset southern England, lying at the entrance to Christchurch Harbour. The River Mude and Bure Brook flow into the harbour there...
in 1801, while Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
installed one at Osbourne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in the 1840s.
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 V was king of the United Kingdom and its dominions from 1910 to 1936.George V or similar terms may also refer to:-People:* George V of Georgia * George V of Imereti * George V of Hanover...
and Queen Mary
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
spent the day at a beach hut in Sussex, and other owners have included the Spencer family and Sir Laurence Olivier. During World War II 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, boatsheds or converted bathing machines some of the earliest purpose built beach huts in the UK were erected at Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, 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 first world war. The Council believes that some of the original huts are still standing, including the oldest hut number 2359 which is marked with a blue plaque, although the majority were renewed in the 1950s and 1960s. 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
Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth. Located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne, It developed rapidly from a small village as a seaside resort alongside Bournemouth after the first Boscombe pier was built in 1888...
. These were renovated to designs by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway, founders of the Red or Dead
Red or Dead
Red or Dead is a fashion designer and manufacturer, started in London in 1982 by Wayne Hemingway and his wife Geraldine Hemingway. They manufacture products such as shoes, spectacles, bags and watches.- Brand name :...
label, as Beach Pods for the Surf Reef
Boscombe Surf Reef
Boscombe Surf Reef is an artificial reef built to enhance surfing conditions in Boscombe, Dorset, UKThe Boscombe Surf Reef is the first surfing reef to be constructed in the Northern Hemisphere. The town of Boscombe opted to build a surfing reef to provide a unique focal point for the town's...
opened in Autumn 2009.
Notable huts
The Queen's beach hut in NorfolkNorfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
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 Emin
Tracey Karima Emin RA is a British artist of English and Turkish Cypriot origin. She is part of the group known as Britartists or YBAs ....
, sold her Whitstable beach hut to the collector, Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi
Charles Saatchi is the co-founder with his brother Maurice of the global advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, and led that business - the world's largest advertising agency in the 1980s - until they were forced out in 1995. In the same year the Saatchi brothers formed a new agency called M&C...
, 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
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
and civil partnership ceremonies. The "super beach hut" is located on Bournemouth's beach under the West Cliff lift.