Coastguard Station

Tollesbury got its coastguard station in 1879, and the government built two substantial blocks of cottages on Mell Road to house the men and their families.

The reason was smuggling. The maze of tidal creeks around Tollesbury made it ideal country for landing goods quietly and away from official eyes, and the village had a long-standing reputation for it. A permanent coastguard presence – men on watch, living where they worked – was the answer.

When the first families moved in, this was still a remote spot. The Crab and Winkle light railway had yet to reach the village, and the pier out on the wick wouldn’t open until 1907.