Grace Darling Memorial

Pay tribute to a local heroine

On 5 September, 1838, the steamship Forfarshire began her journey north from Hull, bound for Dundee. She was laden with cargo and roughly 40 passengers, the number imprecise as no passenger list was drawn up. Also on board were 22 crew members, her captain, John Humble, and his wife.Trouble began that night when, in heavy seas, one of the boilers sprang a leak. Despite an attempt at repair, the problem continued.

That evening – partly under sail – the Forfarshire neared Berwickupon-Tweed. And then gale-force winds blew in from the north.The stress on the ship caused the boilers to fail and she began to drift south, pushed back by the storm. Humble decided to make for the Farne Islands (see ch. 99) but the high seas made navigation difficult. At 4am on the morning of the 7th, the Forfarshire struck Big Harcar Rock, one mile from Longstone Lighthouse.

Grace Darling was the daughter of William Darling, the keeper at Longstone. Unable to sleep, Grace saw a dark shape off Harcar Rock. Waking her father, they studied the sight through a telescope and thought it must be a shipwreck. By daylight they could see movement on the rock. With the storm still raging, William knew that the lifeboat at Seahouses could not put to sea. And so, at Grace’s instigation, the pair set off in their coble. With Grace rowing, William skilfully navigated their way to the wreck. Once there, the pair found nine survivors, too many for their small boat; two trips would be necessary. Helped by two crew members, the coble was rowed back to Longstone carrying three of the other survivors.The last four were rescued less than an hour later.

The bravery of Grace that morning was a contemporary sensation. Sadly, she died just four years later of tuberculosis aged 26. Fittingly, her canopied memorial in St Aidan’s churchyard is visible to sailors passing the Bamburgh coastline.

Address St Aidan’s Church, Radcliffe Road, Bamburgh, Northumberland, NE69 7AB |

Getting there Bus 418 or X 18 Max to The Grove or Church Street; very limited on-street parking on Front Street or paid parking at the Links Road Car Park and then a 10-minute walk | Tip The RNLI Grace Darling Museum tells the story of the Forfarshire and Grace’s role in the rescue of survivors. On display are objects that belonged to Grace and her family, as well as the coble – a Northumbrian rowing boat – used in the rescue (rnli.org).