Rocks placed in front of the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House by volunteers saved it from collapse during last weekend’s high tides and storms. The chair of the charity trying to raise funds to preserve the iconic building says she’s in no doubt it would have fallen into the sea without their efforts.
The Lifeboat House, on the coast at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, stands on shingle which is constantly being washed away exposing the building’s foundations. Five local men were so concerned they used tractors and trailers to move the rocks to trap the shingle and give the building structural support.
The Mary Stanford Lifeboat House stands as a memorial to the 17 Rye Harbour lifeboat men who died during a rescue mission in 1928.
The before and after pictures show just how effective the operation was in saving the building. Instead of the high tide scoring out more shingle, the newly placed rocks saw wave action forcing the shingle back under the building’s foundations to a height of 2.5 ft.
Frustrated by lack of action to make the building safe, Icklesham farmer Philip Merricks led the volunteers to take action. He said he had received many messages of thanks. “This demonstrates how much the sacrifice of the 17 men, who went to their deaths from the lifeboat house to save others, means to local people.”
He said he was pleased, and relieved, to see just how successful the work over two weekends in November had been to shore up the building. “Whilst locals can voice their concerns about the lifeboat house on their keyboards, farmers can take practical action with their machinery.”
“I am so grateful to Philip and his team,” said Jacquie Stanford, the Chair of the Friends of the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House – the charity raising funds to restore the listed building. “Thank goodness they have taken matters into their own hands to protect it. If they hadn’t I’m sure it would have been lost to the sea last weekend. The front of the building could easily have collapsed onto the beach.”
The work of the volunteers was praised during Rye Town Council’s meeting on Monday 8 December. To applause from councillors Mayor Andy Stuart said, “As we fast approach the centenary of the lifeboat tragedy, the building has been kept up thanks to their great work.”
Discussions have been continuing with the agencies responsible for the local coast.
A Natural England spokesperson said, “We appreciate that, like a lot of our coastline, the Mary Stanford Lifeboat House is at risk from rising sea levels and a more extreme climate. Natural England has offered the Friends of Mary Stanford Lifeboat House charity guidance to help it secure the right permission to develop plans to protect the building. That offer remains open.”
Local authorities take the lead in managing coastal erosion and landslips, said the spokesperson. “They work with communities where protection measures are not technically possible or affordable or may be environmentally damaging.”
Whilst the foundations have now been shored up by the shingle, there were more problems for the building when part of the roof was blown off, also on Saturday 6 December.
Timbers and roofing near the front of the Lifeboat House came loose during strong winds. Debris was spread nearby.
Work has been taking place this week to make the roof secure.
Image Credits: David Mcloughlin , Philip Merricks , David West .