A Brief History of Beach House and Runswick Bay

Runswick Bay

The original village of Runswick Bay lay slightly further to the north but in one tragic night in 1682 the village slid into the sea.

Many of the villagers were attending a wake when a latecomer noticed the steps to the house slip away under his feet. Escaping from the back of the house, they roused the rest of the village, most of whom ran to safety.
By morning every house had fallen into the sea, except one. No-one knows which house survived. 

The village was rebuilt but the land has continued to slip, so in 1970 a new sea wall was built and that was intended to prevent further damage.  The Sea defences have been strengthened again recently and a great deal of ground stabilisation work was done at the same time. Prior to the completion of the works the old sea wall, road and car park areas were advancing into the sea at a rate of two centimetres each week. In 1962 the new road was opened, leaving the old one as a pleasant winding path from the top car park.

For years the only link with the outside world was the narrow winding road. Life in the village revolved around the fishing industry. Fishing was a family concern with the women and children gutting and salting the fish when the catch was landed and preparing the mussels for bait.

In August the fishermen joined the herring fleet, taking their catches to Yarmouth. The herring houses which stood on the site of the car park were used to store dried fish for the village’s own use.

By the 1920s the industry was declining; some fishermen made extra money by taking tourists out in their boats and a few worked at the Alum Quarries & Ironstone mines. It was not until the coming of the railway that the village began to change. New houses were built at the top of the bank and slowly the villagers moved away. By the 1940s the shops had closed, fishing had declined and Runswick Bay had become a holiday village. After WWII many looked for a future outside Runswick and by 1950 regular fishing had come to an end.

Today the village has a small number of  permanent residents so although a popular resort in summer, the winter months offer peace and tranquillity.

Smuggling provided another source of income as the village’s isolation made it easy for fishing boats to land illegal goods. The cargoes were hidden in the caves and woods.
Shipwrecks off the bay provided a constant supply of coal and wood, for often a salvage company would offload the cargo in an attempt to refloat the ship. On once occasion the cargo of the Carula was washed overboard and the villagers were paid to collect it from the beach. At 1d per pit prop and 9d for a copper rivet it was well worth the effort.

At 4 a.m. on 1st July, 1978, the people of Runswick Bay stood on the beach to watch their lifeboat put to sea for the last time. After 112 years’ service to fishermen, sailors and holidaymakers, an era had come to an end.

The first lifeboat, The Sheffield, had come to Runswick in 1866 and was manned by a crew who had to be able to row for miles in stormy sea. The launching of the boat was a feat in itself: the children placed lanterns on the beach to mark the way then the boat was pushed on rollers to the sea edge by anyone available to help.

Perhaps the most famous rescue occurred in 1901. The men had gone out to fish in calm weather but a gale blew up. The lifeboat was needed but the crew and most of the launchers were at sea, so in spite of the harsh weather and strength required, the women and old men of the village launched the boat and stood by until the cobbles were safely in. 

Today the RNLI operate a small inshore rescue craft from Staithes but the people of Runswick have provided their own craft (Runswick Bay Rescue Boat) to go to the aid of holidaymakers and local alike.