Sealand, seven miles off the beach at Felixstowe

Greenheart

Greenheart

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 Dec 2010
Messages
10,384
Visit site
Weird!

I never heard of this place before. Are Suffolk-based forum members familiar with it?

View attachment 37136

I'm curious about lights shown here...this considerable structure must be a real hazard to seafaring locally. How does Trinity House maintain lights, on what is jealously regarded (by the occupants) as their own territory? And how does HM Government regard this spot? I daresay it's not worth wasting civil servants' time with.

Apparently it was a military fort, floated out and sunk in WW2, then claimed by a 'royal' family of fruitcakes in the 'sixties, and they still occupy it. They even issued 150,000 passports to the place, later withdrawn. I wonder why? :rolleyes: It's been offered for sale...a snip at £600,000,000. What, no takers?

I'd like to read about the Maunsell Forts too. They look fascinating. Is access prohibited to the area around them, or are they a venue for daring & drunken loonies?

View attachment 37137
 
'Sealand' (Rough Sands Tower) is marked by a pair of Cardinal Marks so there is no need for Trinity House to go onto the a structure.

It is quite a popular destination for local Boats going out for a day sail, although I understand that at one time the occupants would throw tomatoes at those who got too close. There is even an informal forum race which happens from time to time http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?375880-Rough-Handicap-Challenge
 
Last edited:
Several of the forts were used as pirate radio stations in the 1960s. I think Rough Sands was Radio Essex.
ships have collided with them but they are big and well marked so you would need to be especially negligent.
 
DanTribe said:
Several of the forts were used as pirate radio stations in the 1960s. I think Rough Sands was Radio Essex.
ships have collided with them but they are big and well marked so you would need to be especially negligent.
Click to expand...

My memory is not totally to be relied on but I believe that although jealously fought over by potential radio pirates with tales of approaching boats being bombed with gas bottles Roughs tower never really made its mark on the pop music scene. It was said to have been transmitting so feebly that the main audience were flocks of seagulls.

A week or two after one skirmish my mate and I were sailing his dad's Kestrel out to have a look and happened to be enjoying a bottle of beer as we approached. This had tongues hanging out from the occupiers who had spotted us. Being in generous mood we offered them a couple of bottles. They duly lowered a basket to receive the goodies. With the bravado of youth we closed on the concrete towers to fill the basket. Those towers are huge and threatening when only a few feet away. We felt justified in the offer when the basket contained a large catering size tin of Nescafe offered in exchange for our couple of ales.
 
Last edited:
dancrane said:
I never heard of this place before. Are Suffolk-based forum members familiar with it?
Click to expand...

I've only been to Suffolk once years ago, to sail from Woolverstone; don't remember any mention of Sealand then.

But I'm sure I've seen mention of it on national news, probably in a "And finally ..." section!

Mike.
 
Last edited:
You really need to google or check Wickipedia to pick up more on Sealand's extraordinary story after it was bought by Roy Bates in the 60's. Outside its 3 mile limit, Britain washed their hands of it, which enabled the Bates family to get rich on all sorts of dubious ventures that would have been illegal in the UK or EU (as then was). At one point the Dutch and Germans got so fed up with it that they mounted an invasion. The fun and games largely ended in the mid 80's when the UK territorial limit was extended to 12 miles.

P.S. The passports originally cost £15,000 and sold because they were accepted somewhere, USSR I think it was, and enabled dissidents to leave the country (this isn't widely known). Subsequently they became favoured by criminals and much used in money-laundering operations.

About 20 years ago we asked Bates to come to talk to our yacht club about Sealand. He did not come himself, but sent one of his lieutenants. Quite an interesting evening!
 
Last edited:
Part of our holiday cruise this year....

P1100398_zps976335bb.jpg




But actually, I would be rather more worried about boats banging into this piece of marine archeaolgy

P1100391_zpsb6b996ee.jpg
 
You can still buy a 'Lordship' of the place.

A German friend of mine has just bought one for her father. Very impressive it was too, nicely famed and looking very pukka.
 
I believe it is, or was for a time, used as a datacentre for people who wanted their stuff hosted out of reach of conventional governments. Not sure how "out of reach" it would really be in practice, but that was the selling point.

Pete
 
Thanks for all these replies. There's certainly been plenty of interest in these offshore oddities over the years.

I was trying to find a 'streetview' on Googlemaps, from which either the Maunsell forts, or Sealand, is visible. No luck yet.

Interesting that there are plants growing atop some of the Maunsell forts - presumably rooted in several decades' worth of thick guano, always a rich fertilizer. :rolleyes:
 
l'escargot said:
The Principalty of Sealand: http://www.sealandgov.org - my SWMBO is a Baroness :) we sometimes fly the Sealand flag in place of the ensign on the boat which confuses people...
Click to expand...
As the man says, see the website. I think it is a monument to British eccentricity - and to governmental tolerance of eccentricity. A Russian crew member of mine finds it beyond belief. If it were in Russia they'd simply blow it our of the water she tells me.
 
dancrane said:
I was trying to find a 'streetview' on Googlemaps, from which either the Maunsell forts, or Sealand, is visible. No luck yet.
Click to expand...

Hi Dan, I checked Googlemaps for Cliff Road, Golf Road, Undercliff Road East - all in Felixstowe - and from all of these roads Sealand is clearly visible. Unfortunately it doesn't appear to render via Googlemaps. Anyhow do read up on Sealand, it's truly a fascinating story. Am attaching a close-up picture of Sealand I took last year while out for a sail.

P1000248.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top