Padstow Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Slipway |
| Address | Mother Ivey's Bay, Trevose Head, Padstow, Cornwall |
| Telephone | 01841 520667 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
From Trevose Head on the north Cornish coast, Padstow runs a slipway-launched Tamar-class all-weather lifeboat, covering the approaches to the Camel estuary and its notorious Doom Bar. A lifeboat has served Padstow since 1827, and its boats have saved more than 620 lives — though at a heavy cost: thirteen Padstow lifeboatmen died in two disasters, in 1867 and 1900.
The entrance to the Camel is barred by the Doom Bar sandbank, which, with the rocky coast either side, has wrecked countless ships. In 1827 a small double-ended lifeboat was built locally, part-funded by the National Institution, and the Padstow Harbour Association for the Preservation of Life followed in 1829. The Institution took full control of the station in 1856. A second station opened in 1899, and the two were later reorganised.
The station’s history holds great sacrifice. On 6 February 1867 the lifeboat Albert Edward capsized going to the schooner Georgiana, and five of her thirteen crew were drowned. In 1900 the Padstow steam lifeboat capsized on service with the loss of eight more — in all, thirteen Padstow lifeboatmen lost in two disasters, remembered by memorials in the town church.
As the estuary silted, the station was re-sited in October 1967 from Hawker’s Cove out to Mother Ivey’s Bay at Trevose Head, where the lifeboat can launch into deep water at any tide. A new boathouse and slipway opened in 2006 for the Tamar-class Spirit of Padstow. From here the crew — brought out from the town by road — cover a long and exposed stretch of the Atlantic coast.
