Poole Lifeboat Station can be found next to the lifting bridge on The Quay at Poole, a harbour town overlooking Brownsea Island and Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England.
A lifeboat was first stationed at Sandbanks in 1865 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The present station was opened in 1988.
The station currently operates two inshore lifeboats, a , Sgt Bob Martin (Civil Service No.50), (B-826), on station since 2008, and the smaller , Gladys Maud Burton, (D-804), on station since 2017.
History "As there was no life-boat establishment between Lyme Regis on that coast and the Isle of Wight, and as wrecks attended with danger to the crews must be liable to occur to vessels in making for Poole Harbour, or from their parting their cables if anchored in the Bay, it was considered that a life-boat might advantageously be placed at Poole, especially as the pilots and fishermen had represented that they had frequently undergone great risk in rescuing the crews of stranded vessels."
The first boathouse was built in 1865 on a site granted by Sir Ivor Guest, , at Sandbanks, by the narrow entrance to Poole Harbour. Each time the lifeboat was required, the crew had to be collected by horse-drawn coach from the Antelope Hotel in the High Street and taken to Sandbanks.
A self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, at a cost of £210, and transported to Poole free of charge by the London and South Western Railway. The station and lifeboat was funded by the donation of £500 from an anonymous lady, and at a grand ceremony in Poole on 19 January 1865, the lifeboat was named Manley Wood, before being launched on demonstration.
In 1882 a new boathouse was built on land leased from Poole Corporation on the Fisherman's Dock at the east end of Poole Quay. A dedicated slipway was built in front of the boathouse in 1897 as the public slipway was often blocked by other boats. In 1887 a flagstaff had been erected so that messages could be exchanged with Sandbanks. At this time the crew was summoned to launches by a signal rocket. In 1892 this was changed to a signal mortar but this reverted to rockets in 1914 as the mortar being discharged could be mistaken for an explosion at the nearby gas works.
The last 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat at Poole, Harmar (ON 608), was withdrawn in 1939. It was replaced by a motor lifeboat, Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811), built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, at a cost of £3,337, and funded from the legacy of Mr T. K. Wright.
On 30 May 1940, Thomas Kirk Wright sailed to Dunkirk as one of boats summoned for Operation Dynamo, and was the first of 19 lifeboats to arrive there. It was crewed by the Royal Navy but was damaged by enemy fire. After repairs, a second trip across the channel was made on 2 June 1940, before eventually returning to normal duties at Poole.
An inflatable Inshore Rescue Boat was placed on station in 1964 but withdrawn in 1970, although by this time a 'Dell Quay Dory' was also in use. After a succession of 'rigid-hull' Inshore lifeboats, the last one, a Boston Whaler Outrage, Sam and Iris Coles (A-513), was withdrawn from service in 1994, replaced initially by a Rigid inflatable boat, and a new Inshore lifeboat in 1995.
The boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974 and a new station opened with the Poole Harbour Yacht Club at Lilliput Marina.
Another move came in 1989 when the lifeboat was moved back to Poole Quay, but this time at the west end beneath Poole Bridge. The following year new crew facilities and storerooms were constructed by adding a two-storey extension to the police office on Poole Quay.
In 1994 a floating boathouse was placed next to the lifeboat mooring for the new ILB that took up service at Poole the following year.
In November 2016, with the advent of 25 knot boats at flanking stations, the RNLI decided to withdraw the All-weather lifeboat 47-023 City of Sheffield (ON 1131) from Poole, and stationed a inflatable to work alongside the existing Atlantic 85.
Description The crew facilities and storeroom occupies one part of a larger brick-built building facing the water on Poole Quay. The upper floor is set into the roof with a large window overlooking the lifeboat's pontoon. The floating boathouse for the ILBs is moored alongside this pontoon adjacent to the Lifting Bridge.
Poole Old Lifeboat Museum
A year after the boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974, it became an RNLI museum. It was handed to the council in 1991.
The centre-piece of the museum is the Surf-class lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811), on loan from the National Maritime Museum. It was the station's first motor lifeboat, built in 1939, and had operated out of this station until it was withdrawn in 1962. In 1940 it had been one of the lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation.
Station honours The following are awards made at Poole:
RNIPLS Gold Medal Capt. Charles Howe Fremantle, RN, Commander of H.M. Coastguard, Lymington – 1824
RNIPLS Silver Medal George Barnes – 1824 Stephen Curtis – 1824 Lt. Joseph Elwin, RN – 1825 Lt. Thomas Parsons, RN – 1853
RNLI Silver Medal The Right Hon. The Viscount Bury, MP – 1868 Charles Pride – 1868 Richard Stokes, Coxswain – 1882
The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum Richard Wills, Coxswain – 1906 Thomas Wills – 1906 John Wills – 1906 Richard Cartridge – 1906 Henry Russell – 1906 David Coles, crew member – 1986 Steven Vince, crew member – 1986 Raymond Collin, crew member – 1986
A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution Steve Vince, Coxswain – 1995 Robert Doak, crew member – 1995 Geoffrey Langley, crew member – 1995 Gavin McGuiness, Helm – 2001 Anne Millman, crew member – 2001 Paul Savage, crew member – 2001
Roll of honour In memory of those lost whilst serving at Poole:
Run over by the lifeboat carriage, whilst getting out after an exercise on 9 October 1884 James Hughes, crew member (30)
Poole lifeboats Pulling and sailing lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments 1865–1879 Manley Wood186432-foot Prowse Self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) Prowse-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of an anonymous lady, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £210.Renamed Joseph and Mary in 1879. 1879–1880 Joseph and Mary Legacy of Mrs Boetefeur of London.Sold in 1880 and broken up. 1880–1882188 Joseph and Mary188034-foot Self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mrs Boetefeur of London, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £363.Renamed Boy's Own No. 2 in 1882. 1882–1896 Boy's Own No. 2 Gift of the Boys Own LB fund.Sold in 1896. 1897–1910 316 1892 38-foot Watson (P&S) x (12-oared) Watson-class non-self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the Freemasons of the City of London, built by D. and W. Henderson and Company of Partick, costing £924.Transferred to the Relief fleet. Sold in 1918. 1910–1939 608 Harmar 1910 x (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr G. J. Harmar of London, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, costing £1,086.Sold in 1939.
Motor lifeboats ON Op. No. Name Built Class Comments 1939–1962 811 — Thomas Kirk Wright 1939 Sold in 1964. Now on display in the Old Lifeboat House at Poole. 1962–1969 891 — Bassett-Green 1951 Previously at . Sold in 1969. In private ownership as Bassett-Green at Campbeltown, June 2024 1969–1971 873 — George Elmy 1950 Capsized on service at on 17 November 1962 with nine lives lost. Sold in September 1972. Restored to original condition and on display at Seaham Harbour from July 2013. 1971–1974 872 — 1949 Previously at , and . Sold February 1976. Renamed Etoile Du Nord (GU 5045). On display outside the Peninsular Hotel, Vale, Guernsey, December 2025. 1974–1983 1029 44-011 Augustine Courtauld 1974 Transferred to the Relief fleet, later at 1983–2001 1089 33-07 Inner Wheel 1983 Transferred to . 2001–2016 1131 1988 Sold in 2017. Now preserved at the National Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield.
Inshore lifeboats A-class Op. No. Name Class Comments 1967–1969 18-03 Renumbered A-2 in 1972 1969–1972 Renumbered A-502 in 1972. 1971 18-02 Renumbered A-503 in 1972 1972–1973 A-500 Previously Op.No. 1974–1975 A-501 Bob Abbott Previously Op.No. 1975–1985 A-502 Previously Op.No. . 1985–1994 A-513 Sam and Iris Coles
D-class Op. No. Name Class Comments 1965–1967 D-69 1967–1970 D-46 2016–2017 D-798 John Wickens 2017– Gladys Maud Burton
B-class Op. No. Name Class Comments 1975 B-8 Trial boat 1977 B-8 Trial boat 1994–1995 B-548 Aldershot 1995–2008 B-710 Friendly Forrester II 2008 B-736 Toshiba Wave Warrior 2008– Sgt Bob Martin
See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats RNLI College training facility in Poole
Notes
References
External links
RNLI: Poole lifeboat station Poole Old Lifeboat Museum and Shop