Over the years, I have been asked many, many times about the lonely house that can be seen in the distance across the marshes looking north from Blakeney Quay. People wonder when it was built, and who would build a house in such a place, and why?
No one seems to know exactly how long it has been there. There is a story which says that for the first eleven years of its life it was used by the Preventive men (forerunners to Customs and Excise) to try and hamper the activities of smugglers. This, however, was conspicuously unsuccessful, as those employed were local men, and all were smugglers themselves! In fact, word has it that during this period the Watch House served as a very convenient storehouse for contraband!
It is likely that the Watch House was built around the middle of the last century, in association with the coastguard cottages at Morston. It was used by the coastguards in foul weather, when a detachment would be sent to watch for ships in distress hence the name.
If a vessel was seen to be in distress, a flag was hoisted. When this signal was spotted, a rescue procedure was set in motion. High up on Mariner's Hill, the last cottage in the row has an outside door on the first floor between the bedroom windows. Today this looks rather incongruous, but in those days there was a platform with rails extending from the door, on which a trolley with the lifeboat maroon could be wheeled out. Once this was fired, the lifeboat crew would assemble and make their way (sometimes carrying their oars) out to the lifeboat station on Blakeney Point. They then had to manhandle the lifeboat across the beach to the water - a huge distance if the tide was out - launch it and row through the breakers.
Compared with modem rescues, this seems so painfully slow that we might well wonder if, by the time they got there, it would all have been too late. With the ships of today it probably would have been, but large wooden vessels are very buoyant and take a long time to go down.
After the First World War, Blakeney's role as a port came to an end, and it must have been at this time that the Watch House ceased to be used for foul weather watch.
Since then the building has suffered mixed fortunes. It was purchased by the National Trust in 1930 and used extensively by the Girl Guides for summer activities until it was badly damaged in the great flood of 1953. Demolition was considered, but the Guides raised the capital needed to repair it and continued to use it until 1992, when structural problems were revealed and it was declared unsafe.
The National Trust was concerned that the Watch House should be saved, not just as a facility but also as a familiar and much-loved landmark. It was also felt that if it were to be restored, then it should be for the benefit of all.
Following a meeting between the Trusts local advisory group and Blakeney Parish Council, a solution was found, and early last year a group of local people formed and registered the Blakeney Watch House Trust. Since then, with help from the Parish Council, the National Trust and money raised locally, they have completely restored the Watch House.
People are staying at the Watch House again and it is available now to anyone: families, individuals and groups (such as the Scouts and, of course, the Guides). For further information telephone (01263) 740467 or (01263) 740747, but remember - the accommodation is just as it was in the days of the Preventive men!