The history portal for Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
The old Blockade /Coastguard cottages and the lifeboat house stood on the beach at the junction of Beach Road with Ferry Road. The postcard (below) from Howard Porter shows a very unusual rear aspect of it on the right with the lifeboat house just beyond it.
The Blockade (or “Preventative”) Service was created in 1817 following the country’s huge loss of revenue due to what was then considered by some to be a lack of success by the Customs and Revenue Services in coping with the smuggling problem. It is perhaps unfair to lay the blame for this entirely upon them as, amongst other things, we know that manpower was short compared with the smuggling gangs they came up against; pay was poor and even the ships they used were invariably slower and less well armed than the smugglers’ own vessels. Continue reading “Blockade Coastguard Station”