Sheringham lifeboat station
Encyclopedia
Sheringham lifeboat station is an RNLI operated lifeboat station located in the town of Sheringham
in the English county of Norfolk
.
Since 1992, the station has been inshore operations only - currently with an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable
- offshore lifeboats are to the east at Cromer
and the west at Wells-next-the-sea
.
In its history there have been two Bronze Medals and 1 Silver medla awarded to crew by the RNLI.
The current lifeboat station was built in 1936 to replace a smaller older one which was located at the Old Hythe lifeboat house within the town of Sheringham.
to donate money to enable lifeboats to be built and their generosity founded the first lifeboat service in Sheringham. At first the lifeboat service was privately run, being joined and eventually taken over by the newly named Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1867.
, London
. Duncan was 36 feet long and 9 foot 4 inches wide and was self righting by virtue of her heavy iron keel and high end boxes. She was supplied with 12 oars and a single mast with sail.
, which . The boat was provided by Mrs Charlotte Upcher of Sheringham Hall
at a cost of £134.12s.2d. Mrs Upcher had been, for sometime, concerned with the appalling loss of life during severe gales along the East coast and in particular the gale of the 29th November 1826. During this brutal storm seven Sheringham fishermen were lost when their two boats overturned just offshore. Then, in January 1838, a large Sheringham fishing boat known locally as a "twenty footer" was damaged and sunk on Sheringham Shoal. These incidents prompted the establishment of the lifeboat service in Sheringham. The new lifeboat was built by Robert Sunman in the style of the local crab fishing boats. It was launched in November 1838 and was named Augusta after Mrs Upcher's recently deceased daughter. Augusta was 33 feet 6 inches long and 10 foot 3 inches wide. The power for the boat was provide by 16 oars. She was equipped with a dipping lug mainsail, mizzen
sail and had fittings for a rudder
at either end to avoid turning her in heavy seas.
Robert Long at the helm. Augusta’s services were not recorded at the time although tradition credits her with 200 launches and over 1,000 lives saved, however research so far has established more realistic figures of just over 200 lives saved in 16 launches with 4 further unconfirmed services. The first recorded launch where lives were saved was on the 5th of February 1841, to a vessel called Dygden, a barque
, from Abo
in Russia
(Now Turko in Finland
). During the 56 years of Augusta’s service, not one lifeboatman was lost, this may well be attributed to the skill of the Coxswain and crews and their local knowledge of this part of the coast and not least of all because they always wore their lifejacket
s.
By 1838 the Augusta was declared unseaworthy. In the late 1940s she was being used by the Norfolk Sea Scouts on the Norfolk Broads. By 1953 the now derelict lifeboat was found, cut in half and being used as a shelter at the Broads village of Ranworth
. In recent years some of the Augusta’s original planking has been preserved in a tank in Sheringham by a local businessman.
fasteners. The boat was 39 foot 9 inches long and 11 foot 6 inches wide and was double ended. She was powered with 16 oars and she was fitted with a large dipping lug mainsail and a mizzen. She was much lighter than the RNLI boats and could be launched faster which made her very popular with the fishermen that crewed her. On the downside, her extra width tended to make her more liable to ship water in severe conditions and so was less suitable than the RNLI boats in heavy seas. Her naming ceremony took place on 4 September 1894 by Mrs Upcher. When launched the crew of the Henry Ramey Upcher commonly consisted of 28 men. This was a coxswain
, second coxswain and 16 oarsmen; a further 8 men tended the sails and two worked the pumps near the stern.
museum along with two more of the town's historic lifeboats in late 2009. This museum will be housed in the building called the ‘The Mo’ on the promenade close to the Crown public house.
, London
. At 41 foot 4 inches she was 5 feet longer than the Duncan. She was 9 foot 3 wide and was powered by 14 oars and was a self-righting design. This boat cost £500 13s 10d and was funded from the legacy of Mr William Bennett, a wealthy tea
merchant, of Regent’s Park, London. The larger lifeboat however was of no advantage to the Sheringham crew. She was considerably heavier than the Duncan and the narrow access from the boathouse to the slipway
made the William Bennett a very difficult boat to launch.
During the 18 years that William Bennett was stationed at Sheringham, the lifeboat only made 4 successful service launches, saving 11 lives.
. J C Madge ON 536 arrived in Sheringham on the 2 December 1904 having been sailed around the coast from Blackwall Reach in east London.
at Leamouth
. She was 41 feet long and 11 feet wide and was unique in that she was the only Liverpool class lifeboat to be built to these dimensions. She was powered by 16 oarsmen, which could be double banked in heavy weather, and she had two masts. The fore-mast carried a dipping lug sail and the mizzen mast a standing lug sail. The boat had two drop keels and was fitted out with water ballast tanks. J C Madge was launched from a carriage. The carriage was equipped with larger front wheels which had a series of flat metal plates around their circumference. This helped prevent the lifeboat carriage from sinking into areas of soft sand when launched at low tides. This gave the J C Madge an advantage over the private Sheringham lifeboats which had no carriages to help with their launches. To launch J C Madge heavy ropes were connected to the carriage and a team of 30 men were detailed to lug the lifeboat into the sea were, if conditions allowed, she was rowed out through the surf. If this was not possible then the lifeboat was pulled out to sea using a haul-off warp (a windlass
), by use of a thick rope anchored some 200 metres off shore and fixed at the beach end to a post by the lifeboat house. There was a large manually operated winch situated at the back of the boathouse to assist in recovering the boat after launch.
Sheringham
Sheringham is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, west of Cromer.The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for "The sea enriches and the pine adorns"....
in the English county of Norfolk
Norfolk
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...
.
Since 1992, the station has been inshore operations only - currently with an Atlantic 85 rigid inflatable
Atlantic 85 class lifeboat
Atlantic 85 class lifeboats serve the shores of the UK and Ireland as a part of the RNLI inshore fleet.The Atlantic 85 is the third generation B-Class Rigid Inflatable Boat developed from the Atlantic 21 and later Atlantic 75...
- offshore lifeboats are to the east at Cromer
Cromer lifeboat station
Cromer Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Cromer in the English county of Norfolk. The station operates two lifeboats - one for inshore work and the other for offshore work....
and the west at Wells-next-the-sea
Wells-next-the-Sea lifeboat station
Wells-next-the-Sea lifeboat station is an RNLI operated lifeboat station located in the town of Wells-next-the-Sea in the English county of Norfolk. Its neighboring stations are Sheringham lifeboat station to the east, and Hunstanton lifeboat station to the west.The station operates both inshore...
.
In its history there have been two Bronze Medals and 1 Silver medla awarded to crew by the RNLI.
The current lifeboat station was built in 1936 to replace a smaller older one which was located at the Old Hythe lifeboat house within the town of Sheringham.
Pre RNLI
From early times the main source of income in the town of Sheringham had been fishing. In the late 1800s there were upwards of 200 fishing boats operating from the Hythe and the beaches of the town. As the fishing industry flourished the loss of life at sea increased. These recurring tragedies led the wealthy Upcher family of Sheringham HallSheringham Park
Sheringham Park is a landscape park and gardens near the town of Sheringham, Norfolk, England. The park surrounds Sheringham Hall and has a grid reference of . The Hall is privately occupied, but Sheringham Park is in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors.The park was designed by...
to donate money to enable lifeboats to be built and their generosity founded the first lifeboat service in Sheringham. At first the lifeboat service was privately run, being joined and eventually taken over by the newly named Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1867.
First boathouse
In 1838 the first boathouse for the then private service was built to house the Augusta.Second boathouse
In April 1866 the RNLI’s assistant inspector of Lifeboats, Captain D. Robertson, had visited the town as part of his tour of the locality and he suggested that a second station run by the RNLI be placed in Sheringham. The thinking behind this decision was that the RNLI’s lifeboat would bring a different option to the life saving capacities of the town’s private operation. The inspector also met with members of the Upcher family and an agreement was made with Henry Upcher that he would provide land for an RNLI boathouse at East Cliff close to the town centre. Once the site had been agreed work began to build the station at a cost of £251. The building was of a brick construction and was arranged over two floors with the main boat hall at ground level and a lecture room above on the first floor. Public funds were raised to add the first floor, reached by an outside staircase, which was also used as a reading room where fishermen could rest and be educated in their free time. The route from the boat hall led past the area known as The Mo, across the promenade and onto a long timber constructed slipway. The boathouse was completed and became operational in 1867. The location proved to be unsuccessful as the access route to the sea was never straightforward and during the thirty four years that the lifeboat operated from this location, many costly repairs were made often due to the gangway being swept away in gales and high tides.Duncan (RNLI)
The lifeboat Duncan was the first RNLI boat to serve at the new Sheringham station. She came to the town on the 31st July 1867 and had been built at the cost of £345 with this expenditure cost being met by a donation from Mrs. Agnes Fraser, née Duncan, in memory of her father and uncle. The lifeboat had been designed by James Peake and built by Forrestt of LimehouseLimehouse
Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Duncan was 36 feet long and 9 foot 4 inches wide and was self righting by virtue of her heavy iron keel and high end boxes. She was supplied with 12 oars and a single mast with sail.
Service
During the 19 years that Duncan was at Sheringham she was called to made 7 service launches and saved 18 lives.Third boathouse
By 1904 a new boathouse and slipway had been constructed at the Old Hythe. The old boathouse (The Oddfellows Hall) on Lifeboat Plain was then given over to several uses, eventually standing idle and neglected until it was refurbished at a cost of £2.5 million to bring it back to us as a building for the community in 2007.The Lifeboats
Including the private boats there have been 11 lifeboats stationed at Sheringham:| Lifeboat | Service | |
|---|---|---|
| Augusta Sheringham Lifeboat Augusta The Augusta was a private lifeboat which was stationed in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk She was launched on 14 November 1838 and stayed on station for 56 years until she was retired from service in 1894 after an inspection declared her to be unseaworthy.-Beginnings:Before... (private) |
1838 to 1894 | |
| Henry Ramey Upcher (private) | 1894 to 1935 | |
| Duncan | 1867 to 1886 | |
| William Bennett (ON 11) | 1886 to 1904 | |
| J C Madge (ON 536) | 1904 to 1936 | |
| Forester’s Centenary (ON 786) | 1936 to 1961 | |
| The Manchester Unity of Oddfellows (ON 960) Sheringham Lifeboat The Manchester Unity of Oddfellows ON 960 The Manchester Unity of Oddfellows was an lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed at in the English county of Norfolk from 10 July 1961 until 1990 when she was replaced after 29 years service by an second generation Rigid Inflatable Boat in May 1992... |
1961 to 1986 1987 to 1990 |
|
| Lloyds II Sheringham Lifeboat Lloyds II ON 986 Lloyds II ' was an lifeboat of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed at Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk from 8 October 1990 until April 1992 when she was replaced by the second generation Rigid Inflatable Boat Manchester Unity of Oddfellows in April 1992... (ON 986) |
1990 to 1992 |
| Lifeboat | Service |
|---|---|
| Inshore lifeboat (D 204) | 1986 to 1987 |
| Inshore lifeboat (B 536) | 1992 to 1993 |
| Lions International (B 539) | 1993 to 1994 |
| Manchester Unity of Oddfellows (B 702) | 1994 to present (2009) |
Augusta
The first lifeboat to serve Sheringham was the privately funded AugustaSheringham Lifeboat Augusta
The Augusta was a private lifeboat which was stationed in the town of Sheringham in the English county of Norfolk She was launched on 14 November 1838 and stayed on station for 56 years until she was retired from service in 1894 after an inspection declared her to be unseaworthy.-Beginnings:Before...
, which . The boat was provided by Mrs Charlotte Upcher of Sheringham Hall
Sheringham Park
Sheringham Park is a landscape park and gardens near the town of Sheringham, Norfolk, England. The park surrounds Sheringham Hall and has a grid reference of . The Hall is privately occupied, but Sheringham Park is in the care of the National Trust and open to visitors.The park was designed by...
at a cost of £134.12s.2d. Mrs Upcher had been, for sometime, concerned with the appalling loss of life during severe gales along the East coast and in particular the gale of the 29th November 1826. During this brutal storm seven Sheringham fishermen were lost when their two boats overturned just offshore. Then, in January 1838, a large Sheringham fishing boat known locally as a "twenty footer" was damaged and sunk on Sheringham Shoal. These incidents prompted the establishment of the lifeboat service in Sheringham. The new lifeboat was built by Robert Sunman in the style of the local crab fishing boats. It was launched in November 1838 and was named Augusta after Mrs Upcher's recently deceased daughter. Augusta was 33 feet 6 inches long and 10 foot 3 inches wide. The power for the boat was provide by 16 oars. She was equipped with a dipping lug mainsail, mizzen
Mast (sailing)
The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...
sail and had fittings for a rudder
Rudder
A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...
at either end to avoid turning her in heavy seas.
Service
The Augusta was launched on 14 November 1838 with CoxswainCoxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...
Robert Long at the helm. Augusta’s services were not recorded at the time although tradition credits her with 200 launches and over 1,000 lives saved, however research so far has established more realistic figures of just over 200 lives saved in 16 launches with 4 further unconfirmed services. The first recorded launch where lives were saved was on the 5th of February 1841, to a vessel called Dygden, a barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
, from Abo
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
(Now Turko in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
). During the 56 years of Augusta’s service, not one lifeboatman was lost, this may well be attributed to the skill of the Coxswain and crews and their local knowledge of this part of the coast and not least of all because they always wore their lifejacket
Lifejacket
A lifejacket is a type of personal flotation device designed to keep your airway clear of the water whether the wearer is conscious or unconscious...
s.
By 1838 the Augusta was declared unseaworthy. In the late 1940s she was being used by the Norfolk Sea Scouts on the Norfolk Broads. By 1953 the now derelict lifeboat was found, cut in half and being used as a shelter at the Broads village of Ranworth
Ranworth
Ranworth is a village in Norfolk, England in The Broads, adjacent to Malthouse Broad and Ranworth Broad.-Church of St Helen:The 14th century St. Helen's church has a fine 15th century painted rood screen and a rare Antiphoner. It is a Grade I listed building From the top of Ranworth church's 100...
. In recent years some of the Augusta’s original planking has been preserved in a tank in Sheringham by a local businessman.
| Date | Casualty | Lives saved |
|---|---|---|
| 7 June 1889 | vessel South Shields, wrecked on Sheringham Shoals, assisted vessel | |
| 5 February 1841 | barque Barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and... Dygden of Abo Turku Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland... , wrecked between Blakeney Blakeney, Norfolk Blakeney is a coastal village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Blakeney lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. The North Norfolk Coastal Path passes through the village... and Thornham Thornham, Norfolk Thornham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the north Norfolk coast some north-east of the seaside resort of Hunstanton, north of the town of King's Lynn and north-west of the city of Norwich.... |
17 |
| 29 September 1842 | schooner Schooner A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts.... Hamburgh of Dundee Dundee Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea... , wrecked off Old Hythe |
8 |
| 15 April 1845 | brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... Nautilusof Aberdeen Aberdeen Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of .... , wrecked off Skelding Hill |
8 |
| April 1845 | brig Alpha of Shields, wrecked on Sheringham Shoals | 10 |
| unknown date 1845 | brig Gallena, wrecked off Salthouse Salthouse Salthouse is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the salt marshes of North Norfolk. It is north of Holt, west of Sheringham and north of Norwich. The village is on the A149 coast road between King's Lynn and Great Yarmouth. The nearest railway station... |
8 |
| 13 October 1846 | fishing boats | 81 |
| 4 April 1852 | fishing boats, stood by | |
| 30 May 1855 | sloop Sloop A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter.... Reformation, wrecked off Old Point, saved crew |
|
| 7 March 1864 | lugger Lugger A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:... Chasseur (French France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
5 |
| 1 January 1865 | vessel Amphion, wrecked off Sheringham, landed the crew | |
| 22 October 1869 | vessel Will’m Frothingham of the USA United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... , assisted the vessel |
|
| 13 October 1879 | barque Villa Franca, wrecked off Old Hythe | 60 |
| 1 January 1881 | brig Alert, wrecked off Cley next the Sea Cley next the Sea Cley next the Sea is a village on the River Glaven in Norfolk, England, 4 miles north-west of Holt and east of Blakeney. The main A149 coast road runs through the centre of the village, causing congestion in the summer months due to the tight, narrow streets. It lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB... |
7 |
| 6 December 1882 | barque Carolina Norwegian Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million... , saved the crew |
|
| 20 September 1892 | fishing boat, saved crew | |
| 16 August 1894 | fishing boat Margaret Thompson of Sheringham, rendered assistance | |
| 16 August 1894 | barque from Austria–Hungary, lost rudder on Sheringham Shoal, rendered assistance | |
| 16 August 1894 | vessel Balaclava, lost mast off Blakeney Blakeney, Norfolk Blakeney is a coastal village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Blakeney lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. The North Norfolk Coastal Path passes through the village... , rendered assistance |
Henry Ramey Upcher
Uniquely Sheringham has had in the past two lifeboat services running at the same time, one private and the other operated by the RNLI. The lifeboat Henry Ramey Upcher was the boat of the private service. This lifeboat was the gift of Mrs. Caroline Upcher of Sheringham Hall, donated to the fishermen in memory of Mrs. Upcher's husband.Design and construction
Henry Ramey Upcher was built by Lewis 'Buffalo' Emery of Sheringham at a cost of £150. The boat was built in the style of the local crab fishing boats using local oak for the planking and copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
fasteners. The boat was 39 foot 9 inches long and 11 foot 6 inches wide and was double ended. She was powered with 16 oars and she was fitted with a large dipping lug mainsail and a mizzen. She was much lighter than the RNLI boats and could be launched faster which made her very popular with the fishermen that crewed her. On the downside, her extra width tended to make her more liable to ship water in severe conditions and so was less suitable than the RNLI boats in heavy seas. Her naming ceremony took place on 4 September 1894 by Mrs Upcher. When launched the crew of the Henry Ramey Upcher commonly consisted of 28 men. This was a coxswain
Coxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...
, second coxswain and 16 oarsmen; a further 8 men tended the sails and two worked the pumps near the stern.
Rescues and service
The Henry Ramey Upcher launched to over 50 services and she worked closely with the lifeboats, William Bennett and J.C. Madge of the RNLI. She remained in service until 1935 and she saved over 200 souls.The Henry Ramey Upcher Lifeboat Museum
Today the Henry Ramey Upcher lifeboat is preserved in original condition in her own museum which is housed in the original lifeboat shed at the top of the slipway at Old Hythe. It is planned that she will be moved to a new £1.1 millionmuseum along with two more of the town's historic lifeboats in late 2009. This museum will be housed in the building called the ‘The Mo’ on the promenade close to the Crown public house.
William Bennett ON 11
Lifeboat William Bennett ON 11 was the successor to Duncan. She arrived by sea at Sheringham on 7 July 1886. This lifeboat, like her predecessor, was built by Forrestt of LimehouseLimehouse
Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. At 41 foot 4 inches she was 5 feet longer than the Duncan. She was 9 foot 3 wide and was powered by 14 oars and was a self-righting design. This boat cost £500 13s 10d and was funded from the legacy of Mr William Bennett, a wealthy tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
merchant, of Regent’s Park, London. The larger lifeboat however was of no advantage to the Sheringham crew. She was considerably heavier than the Duncan and the narrow access from the boathouse to the slipway
Slipway
A slipway, boat slip or just a slip, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats. They are also used for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers and flying boats on their undercarriage. The...
made the William Bennett a very difficult boat to launch.
During the 18 years that William Bennett was stationed at Sheringham, the lifeboat only made 4 successful service launches, saving 11 lives.
J C Madge ON 536
The lifeboat J C Madge ON 536 replaced the William Bennett ON 11 in 1904. this lifeboat was a Liverpool class, non-self righting, pulling and sailing lifeboat. She cost £1,436 and was funded from a legacy left by Mr James C Madge, a chemist, who came from SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. J C Madge ON 536 arrived in Sheringham on the 2 December 1904 having been sailed around the coast from Blackwall Reach in east London.
Design and construction
The boat was built at the Thames Ironworks Shipbuilding Company LtdThames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company
The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side...
at Leamouth
Leamouth
Leamouth is the area to the west of the mouth of the River Lea at the River Thames at . The northern part of the area lies within a meander of the Lea; the southern part is bounded in the west by the former East India Docks, on two sides by the Lea and by the River Thames to the south...
. She was 41 feet long and 11 feet wide and was unique in that she was the only Liverpool class lifeboat to be built to these dimensions. She was powered by 16 oarsmen, which could be double banked in heavy weather, and she had two masts. The fore-mast carried a dipping lug sail and the mizzen mast a standing lug sail. The boat had two drop keels and was fitted out with water ballast tanks. J C Madge was launched from a carriage. The carriage was equipped with larger front wheels which had a series of flat metal plates around their circumference. This helped prevent the lifeboat carriage from sinking into areas of soft sand when launched at low tides. This gave the J C Madge an advantage over the private Sheringham lifeboats which had no carriages to help with their launches. To launch J C Madge heavy ropes were connected to the carriage and a team of 30 men were detailed to lug the lifeboat into the sea were, if conditions allowed, she was rowed out through the surf. If this was not possible then the lifeboat was pulled out to sea using a haul-off warp (a windlass
Windlass
The windlass is an apparatus for moving heavy weights. Typically, a windlass consists of a horizontal cylinder , which is rotated by the turn of a crank or belt...
), by use of a thick rope anchored some 200 metres off shore and fixed at the beach end to a post by the lifeboat house. There was a large manually operated winch situated at the back of the boathouse to assist in recovering the boat after launch.