The first station at Sea Palling was established in 1840 from local private funds as part of the Norfolk Shipwreck Association, drawn from the Marine salvageinsurance monies gained from rescuing sailors from local ship wrecks.[1] This provided funds for two locally made wooden oar and sail lifeboats, both of which came under the control of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from 1858.[1] At this time, although the lifeboat crews were volunteer local fishermen, so often were they called out that they continued to be paid from the salvage insurance funds, which resultantly supplemented the local fishing industry.[1] As a result of increased activity, a second station with its own lifeboat was established in 1870.[1]
In the 19th century, North Wales lacked good roads, and so the sea was the easiest way to access many places. Porthdinllaen, on the northern coast of the Llŷn peninsula, with its sheltered north facing bay, became important as a harbour of refuge and a busy port, with over 700 ships passing through the port in 1861.[2]
On the night of December 2/3 1863, 18 ships that had been sheltering in Porthdinllaen bay were driven ashore and wrecked. Robert Rees of Morfa Nefyn was awarded the Bronze Medal from the Board of Trade and the Thanks on Vellum by the RNLI after saving 28 lives with the help of four men.[2] After an appeal direct to RNLI head office by local vicar the Rev. Owen Lloyd Williams of Boduan, the establishment of a lifeboat station was approved by the RNLI on 3 March 1864.[2]
Having procured construction of a stone boat house, stone slipway, and a protective seawall for £140, instead of building a new lifeboat the RNLI proposed to move and reallocate the existing 30ftx7ft6inch, 10 oared self-righter lifeboat from Sea Palling. After sailing to a boatyard in London, she was altered and lengthened to a 36ftx8ft, 12 oared self-righter at a cost of £198.[2]
Conveyed from London to Caernarfon free of charge by the London & North Western Railway, she was then sailed south to Porthdinllaen, arriving on 26 August 1864. The boat was made possible by a donation of £250 by Lady Cotton-Sheppard (nee Elizabeth Cotton of Thornton Hall, Oxfordshire), the third that she had underwritten. The boat hence was named Cotton Sheppard in a ceremony conducted by new vicar, The Rev. John Hughes who also became the stations Honorary Secretary, on 9 September 1864. The first coxswain was his brother Hugh Hughes.[2]
Closure
In the late 1920s, in part due to the world economic crash and a resultant decrease in donations from the rich, the RNLI began a programme of rationalisation of lifeboat stations. Having already closed the original Sea Pelling station and reduced the service to two boats, during 1929 the service was reduced to one boat. The RNLI closed the station on 16 January 1931,[1] with service covered from Happisburgh Lifeboat Station.
During its 91 years of service, the Sea Palling lifeboat station had one of the best rescue records of all the lifeboat stations in the UK. In 400 launches 795 lives had been saved, a record bettered by only three other UK stations. Crews had gained four silver gallantry medals, for which a replica of the one awarded to Tom Bishop is still on show at St Margaret’s Church.[1]
In 1972, due to the developing number of beachside tourists, local residents and businesses saught to raise funds to buy and support their own local inshore rescue boat. In 1974 under the charity established as the Palling Volunteer Rescue Service (PVRS), the first lifeboat the Hearts of Oak came into service, covering the area between Eccles-on-Sea and Winterton-on-Sea.
In 1981, the boat was replaced by the first Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat (RIB), named Leo after the majority of funds were raised by the Norwich Leo club.[1] In April 2008 a new RIB named Lions Roar came into service. Named after the majority fund raiser and benefactor, The Hoveton and Wroxham Lions club, she was blessed by the Bishop of Norwich on 4 May 2008. However on 1 September 2011, whilst on a night time training exercise, the boat hit unidentified underwater rocks, and determined as being so severely damaged it was resultantly written-off by the insurance company.[1]
In December 2011, a new 5.7 metres (19 ft) Ocean Pro RIB was ordered from Humber Ribs and fitted out by Goodchild Marine. Equipped with a 90 hp Mariner outboard engine for a top speed of 36 knots, the £22,000 SP4 came into service in May 2012.[1] She was later named Lion Heart by the Bishop of Thetford.[3]
