Holyhead Lifeboat Station (Welsh: Gorsaf Bad Achub Caergybi) is located at Newry Beach, off Beach Road, Holyhead, a port town which sits on Holy Island, a smaller island to the north-west of the main Isle of Anglesey, separated by the Cymyran Strait, in North Wales. It is one of the three oldest lifeboat stations situated on the North Wales coast, a disused building of which houses the Holyhead Maritime Museum.
A lifeboat was first placed at Holyhead in 1829 by the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (AAPLS). Management of the lifeboats of the AAPLS was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1855.[1]
Trent-class lifeboat 14-07 Frederick Storey Cockburn (ON 1205)
The station currently operates 14-07 Frederick Storey Cockburn (ON 1205), a Trent-class All-weather lifeboat, on station since 2025, and the smaller D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat, Mary & Archie Hooper (D-791), on station since 2016.[2]
History
In 1808, on behalf of a local committee, William Vickers made an application to Lloyd's of London for assistance funding a lifeboat. At a meeting on 13 January, the request was reviewed and agreed, and a grant of £50 was offered. However, there is no further evidence of any lifeboat, and it is assumed the boat never materialised.[3]
A request was then made to the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1825, but again there seems to be no further evidence of a lifeboat.[3]
In 1828, the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (AAPLS) was founded, by the Rev. James Williams and Mrs Frances Williams, of Llanfair-yng-Nghornwy, Anglesey. On 26 March 1823, they had witnessed the loss of 140 lives from the wreck of the vessel Alert, and spent the following five years raising funds and gaining support for a lifeboat service.[4][5]
A 31-foot 6in (8-oared) Palmer-class lifeboat was constructed by McVeagh of Holyhead, at a cost of £80, and placed at Holyhead in 1829 by the AAPLS.[6]
1858 Holyhead Lifeboat House, now Maritime Museum
Over the following years, the station would become one of six operated by the AAPLS. In 1854, the RNIPLS changed its name to become the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, and in 1855, all six lifeboat stations of the AAPLS, Cemlyn (no.1), Holyhead (no.2), Rhoscolyn (no.3), Penmon (no.4), Llanddwyn (no.5) and Moelfre (no.6), were transferred over to the management of the RNLI.[7]
It was usual for the RNLI to immediately replace the lifeboat on assuming management of a station, but in this case, the 1829 lifeboat must have been in reasonable condition, as it wasn't until 1858 that it was replaced. It was by then showing signs of decay, and a 30-foot Peake-class self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, at a cost of £161.[8]
At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 5 August 1875, the receipt of £2,500 was recorded, gifted from Samuel, John and Joshua Fielden, for the construction and maintenance of a lifeboat, to be named Thomas Fielden (ON 192) in memory of their late uncle. The three men were the sons of John Fielden of Todmorden, a British industrialist and Radical Member of Parliament for Oldham (1832–1847). On the death of John's brother Thomas, the three nephews inherited an estate of £1.3million.[9][10]
It was decided to appropriate the funds for the purchase of a 37-foot self-righting lifeboat for Holyhead, where a new boathouse was also constructed.[9][11]
A further gift of £2000 in 1891 funded the replacement 39-foot self-righting lifeboat, again named Thomas Fielden (ON 300).[12][13]
In 1892, Holyhead Lifeboat Station received its first Steam lifeboat, which was one of six to serve in the RNLI. The lifeboat was involved in an operation to rescue crew members of the SS Harold in 1908, which anchored near rocks between North Stack and South Stack. The third steam Lifeboat to serve at Holyhead, James Stevens No.3, was retired in 1928 when it was replaced by a motor-powered Watson-class lifeboat, H.C.J. (ON 708).
Twenty-one years later, a new boathouse and slipway were constructed on Salt Island.[14]
The boathouse and slipway were used until 1980, when a new Arun-class boat was allocated to the station and kept afloat in the harbour. Unfortunately, wash from the ferry traffic led to the boat's GRP hull being damaged, and as a temporary measure, a steel-hulled Waveney-class boat was placed on station, while the boathouse and slipway were reconditioned and a new Tyne-class boat was constructed for the station. The new boat entered service in 1985, and slipway launching continued until 1997 when a new, more protected, berth was found for another Arun-class boat, 52-37 Kenneth Thelwall (ON 1123) to take over.
In 2003, the Arun-class was replaced by the Severn-class Lifeboat, 17–41 Christopher Pearce (ON 1272).
An Inshore lifeboat station was established on the site in 1967. The boathouse was expanded in 1987 to fit a D-class (EA16) and its launching trolley. The current inshore boat, Mary & Archie Hooper (D-791), entered service in 2016.[14] Lead was stolen from the station's roof in the morning of 16 June 2011.[15] In February 2015 the station appointed its first female helm.[16]
The Christopher Pearce was reallocated to the RNLI relief fleet in 2025, with Holyhead receiving the Trent-class lifeboat 14-07 Frederick Storey Cockburn (ON 1205) from the relief fleet.
↑ 31-foot 6in x 6-foot 9in (8-oared) Palmer-class lifeboat, built by McVeagh of Holyhead, costing £80.
↑ 30-foot x 7-foot 6in (10-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £161.
↑ Modified 36-foot x 8-foot 2in (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Mr Jos. Leather of Liverpool, built and modified by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £158 when new.
↑ 37-foot x 9-foot 1in (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Samuel, John and Joshua Fielden of Todmorden, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £444.
↑ 39-foot x 9-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Samuel, John and Joshua Fielden of Todmorden , built by McAlister of Dumbarton, costing £448.
↑ 37-foot x 9-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Sir Joseph Whitworth, gift of Lady Whitworth, built by James Beeching of Great Yarmouth, costing £450.
↑ 37-foot x 9-foot 3in (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Miss F. H. Roe of Bath, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, costing £1,107.
(Stations are ordered in clockwise order around the coast)
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Royal National Lifeboat Institution 
