The first lifeboat house in Tenby was built in 1852 by the the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Benevolent Society. It is located at the top of the harbour sands, tucked between the harbour wall and the house 'Upper Deck'. It was taken over by the RNLI in 1854, and continued in use until 1862 when a new larger station was built at the top of Castle Sands (NPRN 414122). In 1888 the RNLI handed it over to the Admiralty for coastguard use.

It housed a 10 oar rowing boat, some 28ft in length, and its distance from the sea, particularly at low tide, necessitated the use of horses and people to pull the lifeboat on wheeled carriages down to the water.

The lifeboat house is a simple shed structure, its two side walls formed by the Habour wall to the west and the western elevation of Upper Deck to the east. The front elevation is of well coursed stone, with a large arched entrance with brick headers and a stone keystone. In front of the building is a well laid stone slipway, with a stone step up to the original floor level of the lifeboat house. The floor has been relaid (and heightened) with concrete in recent years, and a new mezzanine floor laid onto the western half od the original tie-beams. The roof structure is a lean-to one, higher against the harbour wall and sloping down to the east.

The building is currently in use as storage and is well maintained.

S Fielding 22nd June 2011.