Beach huts can be found across seaside resorts in the UK – little miniature homes on the high-tide mark. Their history goes back to the origins of the seaside resort – and the idea that the beach and the sea could offer restorative powers – initially an option only for the wealthy. The ancestor of the beach hut was the bathing machine – a device that would have been familiar to Jane Austen. It allowed those from a more modest age to change from their street clothes and then enter the sea and enjoy it’s healing powers.