The story of The Watch House
, and the Volunteer Life-Saving Company, started on the North East coast. At the end of the 18th century, by far the greatest number of wrecks occurred on this coast because of the sheer volume of shipping and the severity of on-shore gales in winter. This led to the first purpose designed lifeboat, the 'Original', being stationed at South Shields in 1789.
In 1822 HM Coastguard was formed to combat smuggling but also to be responsible for supervision of life-saving from shipwrecks. Because the efforts of the Coastguard were sometimes inadequate, the first corps of shore-based rescuers, Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade, was set up in 1864. Thereafter, the Merchant Shipping Act regulations required the Coastguards to act as recruiting officers for the Volunteer Life-Saving Brigades, and here, in 1876, a small group of volunteers was enrolled to assist the local Coastguard, thus creating the Seaton Sluice Volunteer Life-Saving Company.