More rocks were added to the beach to protect the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House over the weekend of 13 and 14 December.
The work, again by volunteers acting independently of the agencies responsible for the coast, follows successful efforts to shore up the building in the face of early December’s high tides.
Five local people were so worried the Lifeboat House would collapse into the sea they took matters into their own hands and used farm equipment to move the rocks from an Environment Agency stockpile on the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. They created a stone groyne that traps shingle in front of the building, preventing it’s foundations being exposed and washed away.
The latest work has seen the new groyne extended in length and height. A farm excavator has also moved more shingle into place to shield the building from the tide..
The volunteers were led by Icklesham farmer Philip Merricks. He said their work over the last month was urgently needed. “The most recent additional work that we carried out last weekend and during the beginning of this week ensures the lifeboat house is now well protected for the foreseeable future.”
The Mary Stanford Lifeboat House is a listed building maintained as a tribute to the 17 crew who died during a rescue in Rye Bay in 1928. For many years it has been protected by a secure bank of shingle held in place by wooden groynes which have fallen into disrepair.
Image Credits: Philip Merricks .