Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station can be found at the western end of Sennen Cove, a small coastal village, approximately north of Land's End, sitting at the tip of the Penwith peninsula, on the north-west coast of the county of Cornwall, England.
A lifeboat station was established at Sennen Cove by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1853.
The station currently operates a All-weather lifeboat, 16-14 City of London III (ON 1294), on station since 2010, and the much smaller Inshore lifeboat, Arangy (D-896), on station since 2024.
History Sennen Cove is situated just to the north of Land's End, the most westerly point in mainland England. In thick fog and rough seas on the morning of 11 January 1851, the 250 ton brig New Commercial of Whitby struck the Brisons, a group of rocks to the north of Sennen Cove. The vessel, on passage from Liverpool to the Spanish Main, broke up immediately. The nine men aboard, and the Captain's wife, managed to scramble onto the rocks, but at 09:00, a huge wave swept eight men away, seven to their deaths. A group of five fishermen from Sennen put out in their boat Grace, and found the eighth man, Isaac Williams, a man of mixed race, at the time referred to as a Mulatto, clinging to wreckage. The Revenue Cutter Sylvia was launched from Penzance, and after their brave efforts over two days, managed to retrieve both the Captain and his wife, although she succumbed to the effects of exposure soon afterwards. (Taken from the report of witness Rev. Gregory of Mullion via the Royal Cornwall Gazette of 17 January 1851).
Two gold medals and 10 silver medals for gallantry were awarded by the RNIPLS, to the members of HM Coastguard and the Revenue Cutter.
In 1851, an embargo was placed on the construction of all new lifeboats, pending the outcome of the The Duke of Northumberland's Prize competition, for the best lifeboat design. However, the Admiralty requested a lifeboat for H.M. Dockyard, Woolwich. Tests of the Admiralty boat at Brighton on 3 February 1852 proved successful, and in view of the events of 1851, a lifeboat was ordered for Sennen from Wallis of Blackwall, London. The Wallis lifeboat failed tests, and was immediately condemned without ever making it to Cornwall. A Peake-class lifeboat was subsequently built for Sennen Cove by Forrest of Limehouse in 1853.
Having successfully completed harbour trials, the new Peake-class self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and six oars, was transported to Penzance free of charge by the British and Irish Steam Packet Company, from where she was towed to Sennen Cove by the Revenue Cutter, arriving in July 1853. At his own expense, Mr James Trembath had constructed a boathouse, and offered to supervise the new lifeboat.
On 23 October 1868, in a strong gale, the vessel Devon hit the Brisons stern on. The Captain, his wife and two children, and 14 crew, were lost. In a first of its kind rescue, the rocket apparatus was taken aboard the lifeboat Cousins William and Mary Ann of Bideford, after the Mate was seen the following day, still clinging to the rocks. A line was fired across to him, followed by a buoy, and he was hauled back to the lifeboat. Coxswain Matthew Nicholson and Coastguard Officer Sylvester Morrison were each awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.
The boathouse had been extended in 1864, for the arrival of the Cousins William and Mary Ann of Bideford, but in 1875, it was replaced by a new boathouse, built on the landward side of the road, at a cost of £268. This boathouse was replaced again twenty years later, when one was constructed on the original site, at a cost of £1,560.
The first motor lifeboat arrived at Sennen Cove in 1922. The new lifeboat was essentially an old style self-righting P&S lifeboat with a drop-keel, fitted with a single 45-hp Tylor engine, while still retaining sails and oars. At a ceremony on 28 August 1922, the lifeboat was presented to the Sennen Cove branch. Costing £8,622, the new boat was funded by Mr R. A. Newbon, late of Kensington, whose legacy had previously funded five P&S lifeboats, and was named The Newbons (ON 674).
In preparation for this new larger boat, the boathouse was again modified in 1919, given a new slipway, with a turntable fitted inside, so that the lifeboat could be hauled up the slipway bow-first and then turned ready for its next service. The whole project cost £11,000. Ten years later a second slipway was provided for ease of recovery.
1994 onwards In 1994 an ILB was added to the station. This is kept in the boathouse. When it was to be launched it was craned onto the slipway and taken down to the water on a carriage, but a new slipway was provided to make launching the ILB easier at low tide. At the same time the boathouse was modified to take a longer boat, and in 2001 the roof was removed and a new one installed ready to receive the taller, faster lifeboat. New crew facilities were installed at the same time. The construction works to accommodate the Tamar lifeboat cost £4 milliom.
The current Sennen Cove All-weather lifeboat, 16-14 City of London III (ON 1294) was funded from donations to the City of London Committee and the Local Cornish Lifeboat Appeal, and was placed on service on 7 January 2010.
In the 2010 Birthday Honours, Second Coxswain Philip Charles Shannon was awarded the MBE, for voluntary service to Sennen Cove Lifeboat.
Description The lifeboat station stands on the beach at the head of two slipways. The masonry walls date from 1929 but the shallowly curved metal roof was added in 2001. Inside, as well as the boathouse, is a three-storey crew facility. The ground floor is a changing room for the ILB crew, above that is a similar facility for the ALB crew, and on the top floor is a crew room. A viewing gallery for the lifeboat and boat hall also incorporates the souvenir outlet.
Area of operation The RNLI aims to reach any casualty up to from its stations, and within two hours in good weather. To do this the lifeboat at Sennen Cove has an operating range of and a top speed of . Adjacent lifeboats are at Penlee Lifeboat Station to the south, on the Isles of Scilly to the west, and to the north.
Service awards Coxswain Henry Nicholas, received the RNLI Silver Medal in 1909, for an arduous service to the Fairport of Liverpool, going out twice, and standing by for many hours, until a tug arrived.
A silver medal and three bronze medals were given in 1919, for the rescue of eight people from the SS Falmouth Castle. That same year, for saving eight people from a motor launch, Coxswain Henry Nicholas and Second Coxswain Thomas Pender each received the silver medal, while the 12 crew members were each awarded bronze medals. One of the crew was 17-year-old Henry Nicholas Junior. He later became coxswain and 45-years-later in 1964, was awarded a second bronze medal (clasp), for leading the rescue of five people from the trawler Victoire Roger, which had caught fire.
French Maritime Medals in Bronze were awarded for the rescue of six of the crew of 18, from the French trawler Jeanne Gougy, when it was wrecked in the early morning of 3 November 1962 on the Armed Knight Rock.
Coxswain/Mechanic Horace Eric Pengilly was awarded with a silver medal, after a fruitless 6-hour search in terrible conditions for survivors of the MV Union Crystal, which sank on 16 November 1977, although he died before he received the medal. Another sinking vessel, the Tungufoss, resulted in seven lives being saved and Coxswain/Mechanic Maurice Hutchens receiving a silver medal in 1981. In 1995 Coxswain Terence George was awarded a bronze medal for the rescue of five people from the fishing vessel Julian Paul.
The following are awards made at Sennen Cove:
RNIPLS Gold Medal Capt. George Davies, RN, Inspecting Commander, HM Coastguard, Penzance – 1851 Cmdr. Thomas Randall Forward, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851
RNIPLS Silver Medal James Burne, Commissioned Boatman, HM Coastguard, Penzance – 1851 William Henry Selly, Commissioned Boatman, HM Coastguard, Penzance – 1851 Robert Eastaway, Boatman, HM Coastguard, Penzance – 1851 Thomas Kerley, Boatman, HM Coastguard, Penzance – 1851 Charles S. Carr, Gunner, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851 Henry Jones, Mariner, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851 Henry Richards, Mariner, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851 James Richards, Mariner, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851 William Surry, Mariner, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851 James Ward, First Class Boy, Revenue Cutter Sylvia – 1851
RNLI Silver Medal Matthew Nicholas, Coxswain – 1868 Sylvester Morrison, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Sennen Cove – 1868 Henry Nicholas, Coxswain – 1909 Alfred Jackson, fisherman – 1919 Thomas Henry Nicholas, Coxswain – 1920 Thomas Pender, Second Coxswain – 1920 Horace Eric Pengilly, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1978 (post.) Maurice Hutchens, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1981
RNLI Bronze Medal Thomas Hicks, Master of the Drifter Ben-ma-Chree – 1919 David Sleeman Jr., fisherman – 1919 Edward Sleeman, fisherman – 1919 Edmund George, crew member – 1920 Edward George, crew member – 1920 Ernest George, crew member – 1920 Thomas George, crew member – 1920 Edward Nicholas, crew member – 1920 Henry Nicholas, crew member – 1920 Henry Nicholas Jr., crew member – 1920 Herbert Nicholas, crew member – 1920 James Howard Nicholas, crew member – 1920 John Nicholas, crew member – 1920 John Penrose, crew member – 1920 Robert Roberts, crew member – 1920 Henry Nicholas, Coxswain – 1964 (Second-Service Clasp) Terence George, Coxswain – 1995
The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum Sennen Lifeboat Crew – 1978
A special framed certificate The coxswain and crew – 1979 (Fastnet Race)
French Maritime Bronze Medals and certificates Henry Nicholas, Coxswain – 1962 J. H. Nicholas, Second Coxswain – 1962 Edmund George, Bowman – 1962 Richard George, Motor Mechanic – 1962
Icelandic awards for valour, presented by The President of Iceland Sennen Lifeboat Crew – 1981
Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE) Philip Charles Shannon, Second Coxswain – 2010QBH
Sennen Cove lifeboats
Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments 1853–1864 1853 25-foot 8in Peake Self-righting (P&S) x (6-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, funded by the Institution, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £141.Broken up in 1864. 1864–1880 Pre-417 Cousins William and Mary Ann of Bideford 1864 34-foot Peake Self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Mrs M. A. Davis of Bideford, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £250.Damaged and broken up in 1880. 1880–1893 182 1880 x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Miss M. Onslow of Faygate, Surrey, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £363.Broken up in 1893. 1893–1922 357 Ann Newbon 1893 35-foot Self-righting (P&S) x (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr R. A, Newbon of London, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £498.Condemned and sold in 1922.
Motor lifeboats ON Op.No. Name Built Class Comments 1922–1948 674 — The Newbons 1922 40-foot Self-righting (motor) Transferred to 1948–1973 856 — Susan Ashley 1948 Later at and . Retired in 1981 and since 1996 preserved in the RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard, December 2025. 1973–1991 999 37-28 Diana White 1973 Sold in 1992, Renamed Joseph Day. Last reported as Diana White, stripped down hull for sale, Katikati, New Zealand, January 2023. 1991–1998 1176 12-19 The Four Boys 1991 Transferred to the relief fleet. Later at . 1998–2010 1121 47-016 1988 Previously at . Sold in 2014. Unaltered, at Conwy, December 2025. 2010– 1294 16-14 City of London III 2009
Inshore lifeboats