The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI)


In 1994 when two fishermen lost their lives off the Cornish coast below a recently closed Coastguard lookout, local people decided to open and restore the ‘visual watch’ of the seas around Bass Point, Cornwall. Today, 49 stations keep watch around the coastline of England and Wales. A computer cannot spot a distress flare, an overturned boat or a fisherman in trouble.

This project is about the volunteers who journey out to the stations to maintain a daylight watch 365 days a year. The watch houses are built on narrow cliff edges, and endure brutal weather conditions. The Interiors are lived in professional spaces. The work itself is isolated, lonely. It involves watching the horizon, logging and monitoring.

Medium Format 6/7 colour negative

NCI Prawle Point

Teignmouth NCI

Torbay NCI

NCI - Brownstone Battery

Roger Procyk - NCI Prawle Point
NCI - Brownstone Battery