Scale: 1:48. A contemporary model of a refuge asylum circa 1820. Built in frame, the model is equipped with four mooring anchors and chains, a shelter with a distress lantern above, and space for two lifeboats (missing) which were launched from across the deck using rollers on either side. The hull structure has a waterline indicated by a blue line and rope grablines are secured just below the deck to enable casualties to hang on and haul themselves aboard.

The asylum was designed to float over areas of shallow and hazardous waters, such as the Goodwin Sands in the English Channel, and settle upright into a hollow at low water. The framework of the hull was never planked and was ‘awash’, giving minimum resistance during heavy weather.