Cullercoats Lifeboat Station

There has been an RNLI Lifeboat Station at Cullercoats Bay since 1852, when the Duke of Northumberland first provided one. This was in use by various lifeboats until 1896 when the present building was constructed. This building was funded by the Co-operative Wholesale Society and was designed by the well know Newcastle Architects Oliver and Leeson.

The building was originally rectangular, as shown on the 1897 Ordnance Survey map, and the bell tower was added later. It is not known when exactly this occurred but it does appear on a painting from 1910 by John Falconer Slater, so it must have been between those two dates. John Falconer Slater, part of the “Cullercoats Colony” of artists who worked in and around Cullercoats between 1870 and 1920, included the Lifeboat House on two of his paintings; “Cullercoats 1910” and “Stormy Sea at Cullercoats”.

The crews of the Cullercoats Lifeboats were mainly drawn from the fishermen of the village, who knew the seas well. The station has seen its boats launched over 720 times in its life and has saved well over 840 lives! In fact there have been 7 awards for gallantry for the station.

The 19th Century part of the Lifeboat Station is Grade II listed as it is considered a “key building in the small coastal community it serves, and is endowed with historic interest and communal value”. One of these features of interest are some decorative bargeboards which bear the inscription based on Psalm 107:6 “So when they cry unto me in their trouble He delivereth them out of their distress & bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.”.

In 1992, the boathouse was converted to house the Atlantic 21 and launching tractor, and in 2003, it was extended to the north and underwent internal modification including the insertion of an upper floor and stair access. This more modern section is not included under the Grade II listing.