Cannibal-crewed lifeboat station up for auction in Wales
The old lifeboat station at Moelfre, Ynys Mon is to be auctioned next month.
Auctioneers, Town & Country, says this is ‘an extremely rare opportunity to acquire a landmark marine property’ and describe the station as ‘steeped in history’.
Moelfre lifeboat service’s history includes a long line of accolades . . . as well as being once manned by Thomas Lewis – who is known to have survived a shipwreck by drinking the blood, and eating the liver, of the dead.
Prospective viewers should proceed with caution, says Town & Country.
Built in 1875, the building and slipway served as the Lifeboat Station serving the east coast of Anglesey for many years. Recently it’s been privately used as a boat house and store. The internal accommodation extends to approximately 66 square metres. Its access is on foot via a steep path, off the Coastal Path.
The property includes a wide slip way, part being in need of repair, and includes an area of pebbled beach and rock outcrops.
There are no services to the building, and are not in close proximity for connection. Full sale details are online.
Cannibal crewman volunteers at lifeboat station
Able Seaman Thomas Lewis was the hero of one of the most grisly shipwrecks in British maritime history – which included drowning, fire and even cannibalism, says a BBC article from 2024.
In 1874 Lewis (known as Twm Pen-Stryd in his home town) served onboard the Cospatrick, transporting emigrant labourers and cargo to New Zealand.
On 17 November, off the Cape of Good Hope, an uncontrollable fire broke out on the wooden sailing ship. All but three of the 479 passengers and crew lost their lives.
Onboard the remaining lifeboat (of the original six, four were destroyed by fire and one overturned), Lewis urged other survivors to drink the blood of those who had already died. Lewis cut out the livers of the dead and distributed the pieces to others onboard before delivering the dead bodies to the sea.
The British Sceptre, an iron sailing vessel heading to Dundee from Calcutta, spotted Lewis and company on their 10th day adrift. Two of Lewis’ remaining company died mid-Atlantic on their way to St Helena, but three – including Lewis – eventually made it back to Britain on New Year’s Eve 1874.
Reports suggest that Lewis volunteered for the Moelfre lifeboat less than a month after returning.
He eventually returned to commercial shipping, but once again met with misfortune.
In his book The Survival of Twn Pen-Stryd, RR Williams says that years after the Cospatrick affair Lewis was unloading a cargo of slate slabs on the River Thames, when the hoist failed, crushing his leg.
“After long and painful treatment, which ended in the amputation of his leg, he finally ‘swallowed the anchor’ and passed the remainder of his life sharing the parental home with his married sister at Pen-Stryd.
“He became a proverbial figure locally, throwing his wooden leg in a dramatic sweep as he peg-legged his way around the village.
“Bearded and weather-beaten, this retired old-salt sported a seamen’s peak cap, blue jersey, and bell bottomed trousers until his death in his 66th year in 1894.”
Moelfre lifeboat station history
A lifeboat was first stationed in Moelfre in 1848 by the Anglesey Association for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (AAPLS). It was the sixth place on the island to have a lifeboat after Cemlyn, Holyhead, Rhoscolyn, Penmon and Llanddwyn, says local media.
Moelfre became part of the RNLI in 1855. Its first station was replaced in 1875 by the boathouse now up for sale. That cost circa £159 (£15,566 today). It served Anglesey’s east coast for 34 years until being replaced by a larger facility 180 metres up the coast.
A new boathouse and slipway were built in 1909. This remains the location of Moelfre’s current station, which was rebuilt in 2015.
Over almost two centuries, Moelfre’s volunteers saved more than 1,000 lives.
Inside the property being auctioned: all images courtesy of Town & Country
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