The Castle Hill life-boat house was built in 1905 by W T Douglas, engineer and architect to the RNLI at a cost of £3,871. It was built to replace the station at the top of Castle Sands (NPRN 414121), which was the third incarnation of the station, originally established in 1852 (NPRN 414123).

The 1905 lifeboat station was constructed to take account of the larger boats coming into service by the end of the 19th century, and the fact that, with a large tidal range, none of the previous stations had allowed for direct launching of the boat into the water. This station is a lightweight construction, essentially a large shed with a curved roof, built of a timber-frame clad with corrugated iron sheeting. The house was elevated on a lattice-work of timber stanchions, accessed from the mainland by a walkway, although the timber work was all replaced with steel girders in 1980 in order to take the increased weight of the new Tyne class lifeboat. the interior of the house was essentially a single open room, with a mezzanine room above the landward entrance which served as a crew room. It is lit by a series of casement-pair windows with a single pane top light, which step down along the length of the building to take account of the fact that the floor level falls as it incorporates the top of the slipway. down the centre of the curved roof is a narrow light of corrugated clear plastic.

At the seaward end the house incorporates the top end of the slipway, which is the longest in Britain. The roller slipway is constructed of timber on reinforced concrete piers. Externally, the life-boat house has cantilevered walkways running the length of each side and round to the top of the slipway.

The station has housed the lifeboats the 'William and Mary Davey' (1902-1923, the first petrol engined boat), the 'J R Webb' (1923-1955), the 'Henry Coomber Brown' (1955-1986), and the Tyne class boat 'RFA Sir Galahad'.

An almost identical example is at Porthstinan, St Davids, of 1911. In 2005 the lefeboat house was superceeded by the new Tenby Lifeboat station located to the west of this one (NPRN 405892). In 2010 planning was approved for the conversion of the 1905 house into residential accommodation, and in May 2011 the building work was nearly complete. The building now contains four bedroomed accomodation, retaining many of the original materials and features from the original building and with the insertion of an additional mezzanine level at the seaward end.

S Fielding 22nd June 2011.