Fowey Lifeboat Station ( ; ) can be found on Passage Street in Fowey, a town approximately north-east of Truro, on the eastern shore of the Gribben peninsula, overlooking the River Fowey, in the English county of Cornwall.
Fowey lifeboat station was initially established at Polkerris in 1859, a small village from Fowey, on the western side of the Gribben peninsula. The lifeboat station was relocated to Fowey in 1922.
The station currently operates a Inshore lifeboat, Spirit of Daisy (B-956), on station since 2026, and a smaller Inshore lifeboat, Olive Three (D-817), on station since 2017.
History Fowey stands at the mouth of the River Fowey where it forms a natural deep water harbour. The town has a long history of fishing and merchant shipping, although the present quays busy with ships loading china clay were only developed in the 1860s. To the west lies St Austell Bay which includes Par Docks built in the 1840s to handle the mineral traffic from the Joseph Treffry mines and quarries, and Charlestown which had been established about fifty years earlier by Charles Rashleigh.
Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved. On 26 August 1826, despite being badly injured during the rescue, Lt. John Else, RN, of H.M. Coastguard (Polkerris) was instrumental in saving the eight crew of the ship Providence of Par, and was subsequently awarded the RNIPLS Gold Medal. Thomas Crosswell, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard (Porthpean), was awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal for the rescue of crew from the vessel Diligence on 19 August 1829.
On 6 May 1856, the schooner Endeavour of Ipswich, on passage from Dartmouth to Charlestown, was driven ashore at Polkerris Bay during a gale. Despite the efforts of several rescuers, just one man was saved. Three RNLI Silver Medals were awarded.
Polkerris The position of the mouth of the River Fowey meant that it would be nearly impossible to launch a lifeboat during the more dangerous storms, when the wind blew from the south. It was decided to station the lifeboat at Polkerris, a small fishing village with a breakwater, on the east side of St Austell Bay.
At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 2 June 1859, it was recorded that local landowner William Rashleigh of Menabilly had offered a sum of £50 towards the provision of a lifeboat at Polkerris, and the site and stone for the construction of a boathouse. A further £50 was offered by J. F. Buller of Morval, and £25 from the Hon. Thomas Agar-Robartes, MP for East Cornwall. It was noted that a lifeboat and carriage were to be ordered forthwith.
A boathouse was constructed at Polkerris, at a cost of £138-4s, and a 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails, and six oars, single-banked, costing £135-10s, was dispatched to the station. The boat and carriage were conveyed free of charge to Lostwithiel railway station in November 1859, via the Great Western, Bristol and Exeter, South Devon and Cornwall Railway Companies.
Following her arrival at Lostwithiel, the boat was rowed down river through Fowey and around to St Austell Bay, arriving at Charlestown, where it was met with great delight, all the vessels in the harbour flying their colours in approval. "She will be available for the protection of vessels running ashore in any part of St. Austle Bay, on the eastern extremity of which is the small village of Polkerris. On the conveyance of this boat to her station, from Fowey, by her crew, she was to some extent tested, and her crew formed a high estimate of her qualities." The lifeboat was named Catherine Rashleigh, after William's wife, who was another of the major donors towards its cost.
In 1866, the station was provided with a ten-oared lifeboat, the Rochdale and Catherine Rashleigh, the larger lifeboat requiring alterations to the boathouse.
Since being established in 1859, the station was known as Fowey Lifeboat Station, even though being located in Polkerris. In 1892, the name was changed to Polkerris Lifeboat Station, but just four years later in 1896, it changed again, to the compromise of Polkerris and Fowey Lifeboat Station..
In 1904, a new boathouse was constructed at Polkerris, at a cost of £850.
During a launch in 1908 a chain broke, and an inspection of the station found that the gradient changed three times in the boathouse and slipway; this was altered by February 1909 to make launching safer.
Several requests were made around this time for a lifeboat be stationed at Fowey, but the RNLI decided that Polkerris was operating efficiently. Following World War I, the RNLI began the move towards operating motor lifeboats, and it was decided that Fowey would be a better location for such a boat. At a meeting of the committee of management on Friday 23 June 1922, it was decided that Polkerris Lifeboat Station would be closed, and a new station established at Fowey, once again being named Fowey Lifeboat Station. The disused station building at Polkerris was later converted to be a café.
Fowey Despite the promise of a motor lifeboat, the first boat stationed at Fowey was a 12-oared pulling and sailing boat. It was kept moored afloat in the river near Town Quay, where the crew had use of a building on the waterfront. Previously named William Roberts at Littlehaven, the lifeboat was already 23-years-old, and just four years later in August 1928, the boat was declared unfit for service.
A 45-foot 6in Watson motor lifeboat, intended for , the H.C.J. (ON 708), was stationed at Fowey for a few months, until Fowey's new boat, C.D.E.C. (ON 712), arrived on station on 6 December 1928. Fitted with twin 40-bhp engines, it had a maximum speed of and could operate up to from her station. C.D.E.C. served at Fowey until November 1954, launching on service 65 times and saving 49 lives.
On 24 November 1954, a new 46-foot 9in Watson-class lifeboat, Deneys Reitz (ON 919), went on station, and spent her entire career at Fowey, until being withdrawn in May 1980. She had launched on service 155 times, saving 36 lives.
Between 1980 and 1982, Fowey saw a succession of three lifeboats. A much older 45-foot 6in Watson-class from the relief fleet, Gertrude (ON 847), built in 1946, was at Fowey for eighteen months until November 1981. Next was the 46-foot 9in Watson Guy and Clare Hunter (ON 926), previously at , but served less than two months, before being sent to replace the ill-fated Solomon Browne at . Another older 46-foot 9in Watson, Charles Henry Ashley (ON 866), again from the relief fleet, was on station until 1982.
On 16 October 1982 a new type of craft took up station, the first of its class to be put into service. 33-03 Leonore Chilcott (ON 1083) was a Brede-class lifeboat. Powered by twin 203-hp Caterpillar diesel engines, these "intermediate" lifeboats were not able to operate in storms above Force 8, but otherwise could operate at up to and had a range of .
Leonore Chilcott served for five years, before being replaced by the older but larger Thomas Forehead & Mary Rowse II (ON 1028), previously at . The Waveney served at Fowey for more than 8 years, launching on service 169 times and saving 35 lives.
The RNLI started to provide small, fast inshore rescue boats in the 1960s, but it was not until August 1996 that one was stationed at Fowey. The harbour at Mevagissey had been considered as a possible ILB station but no suitable site could be found. The small inflatable was initially kept in a wooden container at Berrill's Yard and launched using a davit near the ALB's moorings which had recently been moved from Town Quay. On 4 October 1997, a unique triple ceremony took place at Fowey to bring into service not just a new purpose-built lifeboat station Berrill's Yard at but also to christen the station's two new lifeboats at the time, the All-weather lifeboat 14-18 Maurice and Joyce Hardy (ON 1222) and the D Class ILB Olive Herbert (D-526).
Following a coastal review by the RNLI, it was announced in February 2025, that on retirement from service, the Trent-class lifeboat at Fowey would be replaced by a 35-knot Inshore lifeboat. Maurice and Joyce Hardy (ON 1222) was withdrawn in August 2025.
Description The three-storey lifeboat station was built in 1997 in a style that blends with the older buildings around it. The gabled central section has covered facilities for the IRB at ground floor level and a small bow window at first floor level. On the left is a two-storey wing which includes a fund-raising RNLI shop. The right hand wing is three storeys high. It is on the landward side of Passage Street opposite the IRB's launch site and the ALB's moorings.
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 at Fowey has an operating range of 2.5 hours and a top speed of . Adjacent lifeboats are an ILB at and an ALB at to the east, and both and ALB and ILB at to the west.
Service awards Two large sailing ships ran aground in a strong gale near Par harbour on 25 November 1865. The Catherine Rashleigh put to sea from Polkerris under the command of Joshua Heath, but lost four oars before she reached the ships. The crew of one vessel then launched their own small boat, but this broke away, with just one man and the ship's cat on board. The lifeboat managed to reach them and took them to Par, where they took on some replacement oars and returned to the grounded ships. After landing 13 men from the larger vessel at Par, and taking on two fresh rowers, the lifeboat returned to rescue the remaining nine people. The whole rescue took five hours, with Joshua Heath being awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.
Before dawn on 23 March 1947, distress signals were reported near Par Sands. Relief lifeboat The Brothers set out from Fowey at 04:40. After an hour's search through rain-swept heavy seas a sunken ship was found near Killyvarder Rock, with the crew gathered on a small part that was still out of the water. The tide was rising and so the lifeboat swiftly moved in but had to haul the men on a rope through the sea. Lifeboat Coxswain Joseph Watters was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal and the efforts of his crew were also recognised.
The following awards have been made at Polkerris and Fowey: RNIPLS Gold Medal Lt. John Else, RN, H.M. Coastguard, Polkerris – 1826
RNIPLS Silver Medal Thomas Crosswell, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Porthpean – 1829
RNLI Silver Medal Cmdr. George Lowcay Norcock, RN, Inspecting Commander, H.M. Coastguard, Polkerris – 1856 Thomas Henwood, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Fowey – 1856 Richard Jones, Merchant Seaman – 1856 Joshua Heath, Coxswain – 1865 William Robins, Seaman – 1893 Edwin Robins, Seaman – 1893 George Bishop, Seaman – 1893 Frederick Perring, Seaman – 1893 William Penrose, Farmer – 1906
RNLI Bronze Medal Joseph Watters, Coxswain – 1947
The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum James Turpin, Assistant Mechanic – 1958
A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution Keith Stuart, Coxswain – 2006
Polkerris and Fowey lifeboats
Pulling and sailing lifeboats