The Old Solva Lifeboat Station stands on the western end of Trinity Quay, on the north side of Solva Harbour. The lifeboat station was established in 1869, on land donated by Trinity House, and funded by a donation from Margaret Egerton, in memory of her husband Capt. Charles Egerton, who had been a member of the management committee of the RNLI. The architect was Charles H. Cooke.
The first lifeboat stationed at Solva was a 10-oared, 33ft boat, named the CHARLES AND MARGARET, and inaugurated on the 11th September 1869. The use of the lifeboat station was relatively short-lived, apparently due to the difficulties of launching at the lowest tides, and the decision to abolish the station at Solva in 1887 is recorded in the Life-Boat Journal.
The lifeboat house is aligned roughly southwest to northeast, with the sea at the southwest end. The building is 12.3m in length externally, it stands 5.9m tall (to the roof-ridge) at its southwest end, and 5.7m tall at its northeastern end, giving a gentle fall in the floor from the back door to the front door. The walls of the boathouse are constructed of dressed stone, and vary in height because of alterations in the surrounding ground-level, but are 2.9m in height in the centre of the southeastern side. Two window openings on the southeastern side measure 1.4m high and 0.63m wide, and are filled with glass blocks. The matching windows on the northwestern side of the building have been blocked up and are rendered flush with the external wall. The seaward (southwestern) entrance has been reduced in size from a width of 3.94m to 2.17m, and from a height of 3.05m to 2.5m. It is fitted with a set of wooden double-doors (green). A slit window sits within the apex of the roof, 1.4m high, 0.36m wide and filled with glass blocks. A matching slit opening of the same dimensions is above the rear entrance (northeastern) to the building and is filled with a wooden slatted shutter. The rear entrance retains its original size and is 2.13m high and 1.58m wide. It is fitted with a single wooden door (green). Internally, the floor retains its original pebble cobbles, and original timber roof trusses.
The lifeboat station is now under the care of Solva Harbour Society and used by local boat owners for storing dinghies and tenders for use within the harbour. The original slipway is still in place and regularly used for the launch and recovery of boats. A tide gauge alongside the slipway is dated to 1856.
The exterior of the building was recorded by the RCAHMW with a photogrammetry survey on 18/06/2024 (link below).
Sources include:
Admiralty, 1870, Sailing Directions for the West Coast of England from Milford Haven to the Mull of Galloway including the Isle of Man, pg115
Dyfed Archaeological Trust Historic Environment PRN 32621: https://archwilio.org.uk/her/chi3/report/page.php?watprn=DAT32621
NAW AP coverage 2006-9
OS 2nd edition 25in
RCAHMW Photogrammetry Survey, 18/06/2024: https://skfb.ly/oWLyZ
The Life-Boat, Journal of the RNLI, 1870, Vol 7, Issue 75, pp 300-1. https://rnliarchive.blob.core.windows.net/media/1068/0075.pdf#page=18
The Life-Boat, Journal of the RNLI, 1887, Vol 13, Issue 146, p 431. https://rnliarchive.blob.core.windows.net/media/1138/0146.pdf#page=4
J. Whitewright, RCAHMW, June 2024.