Longhope Lifeboat Station, Walls, Hoy

Probably designed by William Tregarthen Douglass. 1905-106. Lifeboat station comprising large rectangular-plan boatshed supported on pier/substructure, partially inclined as slipway. Boatshed clad in corrugated metal (painted grey with blue trimmings) with segmental-arched roof. Tarred timber pier supported on series of closely spaced vertical tarred timber posts with full-height timber cross braces; both supported on square-plan concrete plinths sunk into shore.

PIER: orientated northeast/southwest at right angles to shoreline. Main rectangular-plan section linked to land by narrow walkway supported at centre by pair of braced vertical posts; lower part of slipway slightly narrower than main section. Main section largely set at incline (horizontal platform at southwest end/nearest shoreline). Timber handrail (painted white and red) to walkway and northwest side of main platform (boatshed situated asymmetrically along southeast edge) and at far end of southeast side (adjoining boatshed). Pair of slightly inclined timber-framed hull supports (with metal grilles) to lower part of slipway (below boathouse); keel track in between.

BOATSHED: southwest elevation: lean-to section projects across entire width of boatshed; entrance with red painted, timber boarded door to centre; flanking windows immediately adjacent. Central window set back above within segmental arch of roof. Northeast Elevation: large central entrance for lifeboat; boarded multi-panel hinged and sliding timber door. Large segmental-headed 8-light mullioned and transomed window centred above within segmental arch of roof. Northwest and southeast elevations: 3 regularly disposed mullioned and transomed tripartite windows (each set at different level according to incline of slipway). Mainly 3 and 2-pane timber casement windows. Segmentally arched corrugated metal roof with central rooflight.

INTERIOR: most of original fixtures and fittings intact. Braced steel roof trusses. Boarded timber sarking to roof and similar facing to walls. Timber loft at upper (southwest) end. Central section of slipway partially recessed with timber and cast-iron hull supports and central keel track incorporating rollers and winding flex. Cast-iron winding machine at apex (for dragging lifeboat up slipway over rollers). Petrol-powered engine for powering winding adjacent. Timber boards listing names of lifeboat crews to walls. Timber plaque with running total of number of lives saved ('623' - 2000).