The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond | |
 | |
 Trinity House headquarters atTower Hill,London, built in 1796. | |
| Formation | 20 May 1514; 510 years ago (1514-05-20) |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Deptford,Kent, England |
| Legal status | Royal Charter Corporation and registered charity |
| Purpose | Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons |
| Headquarters | Trinity House,Tower Hill,London, England |
Region | |
| Membership |
|
Master | The Princess Royal |
Deputy Master | Rear-Admiral Iain Lower[1] |
| Revenue | £37,907,000 (2022)[2] |
| Expenses | £44,208,000 (2022)[2] |
| Staff | 283 (2022)[2] |
| Website | trinityhouse.co.uk |
TheCorporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond,[3] also known asTrinity House (and formally asThe Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most glorious and undivided Trinity and of St Clement in the Parish of Deptford Strond in the County of Kent), is the official authority forlighthouses inEngland,Wales, theChannel Islands andGibraltar. Trinity House is also responsible for the provision and maintenance of other navigational aids, such aslightvessels,buoys, and maritime radio/satellite communication systems. It is also an officialdeep seapilotageauthority, providing expert navigators for ships trading inNorthern Europeanwaters.
Trinity House is also amaritimecharity, disbursing funds for the welfare of retired seamen, the training of young cadets and the promotion of safety at sea. For the financial year ending in March 2013, it spent approximately £6.5 million in furtherance of its charitable objectives.[4]
Funding for the work of the lighthouse service comes from "light dues" levied on commercial vessels calling atports in theBritish Isles, based on theirnet registered tonnage. The rate is set by theDepartment for Transport, and reviewed annually.[5] Funding for the maritime charity is generated separately.
The Corporation was founded in 1514, its first Master beingSir Thomas Spert,sailing master ofHenry VIII'sflagshipMary Rose and ofHenry Grace à Dieu.
The corporation came into being in 1514 byRoyal Charter granted byHenry VIII under the name "The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity, or Brotherhood ofthe most glorious and undivided Trinity, and ofSt Clement in theParish of DeptfordStrond in the County of Kent."[6] The charter came as a result of a petition put forward on 19 March 1513 by aguild ofDeptford-basedmariners. They were troubled by the poor conduct of unregulated pilots on theThames and asked the king for licence to regulate pilotage.Sir Thomas Spert, Vice-Admiral ofHenry's flagshipMary Rose and theHenry Grace à Dieu was elected the first master; the corporation's name derives from theHoly Trinity andSt. Clement, the patron saint of mariners.
As John Whormby,Clerk to the Corporation, wrote in 1746, their general business was:[7]
to improve the art and science of mariners; to examine into the qualifications, and regulate the conduct of those who take upon them the charge of conducting ships; to preserve good order, and (when desired) to compose differences in marine affairs, and, in general, to consult the conservation, good estate, wholesome government, maintenance and increase of navigation and sea-faring men; and to relieve decayed seamen and their relatives.
| Sea Marks Act 1566 | |
|---|---|
| Act of Parliament | |
 [[England]] | |
| Long title | An Act concerning Sea-marks and Mariners. |
| Citation | 8 Eliz. 1. c. 13 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 2 January 1567 |
| Repealed | 1864 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Merchant Shipping Repeal Act 1854 |
| Repealed by | Thames Conservancy Act 1864 |
Status: Repealed | |
Elizabeth I'sSea Marks Act 1566 (8 Eliz. 1. c. 13) enabled Trinity House:
at their wills and pleasures, and at their costs, [to] make, erect, and set up such, and so many beacons, marks, and signs for the sea… whereby the dangers may be avoided and escaped, and ships the better come into their ports without peril.
With the increasing number of ships lost along theNewcastle toLondon coal route, Trinity House established theLowestoft Lighthouse in 1609, a pair of wooden towers with candle illuminants. Until the late 18th century, candle, coal, or wood fires were used as lighthouse illuminants, improved in 1782 with the circular-wick oil-burningArgand lamp, the first ‘catoptric’ mirrored reflector in 1777, andFresnel’s ‘dioptric’ lens system in 1823.The Norelightship was established as the world's first floating light in 1732.
Trinity House took over the management of all public buoys in thekingdom in 1594 from theLord High Admiral. A royal warrant, dated 11 June 1594, granted the corporation the right of:
... making, erecting, setting up, placing or laying out, all buoys, beacons, marks and signs, for the sea or seashore, to hold the same with all profits and emoluments thereunto belonging, as of the manor of East Greenwich, in free and common soccage.[8]
By 1847, revenue collected from this source was £11,000 to £12,000 per year.[9]
In 1836, Trinity House accepted powers in theLighthouses Act 1836 (6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 79) to levy out the last private lighthouse owners and began refurbishing and upgrading its lighthouse estate.
In 1803, the corporation established the Blackwall Depot as a buoy workshop, and six district depots were later established at Harwich, Great Yarmouth, East Cowes, Penzance, Holyhead and Swansea. In December 2002, Trinity House announced that the Great Yarmouth, Penzance and East Cowes depots would close. Today, Trinity House's operational headquarters are based atHarwich, supported by depots inSwansea and a flight operations base atSt Just inCornwall. Its operations are also supported by three vessels; the two large tenders THVPatricia and THVGalatea, and the Rapid Intervention Vessel THVAlert. It retains a small secretariat based atTower Hill.
During the First World War, the corporation served a number of functions: it buoyed shipping lanes and naval operations, moved lightvessels, and laid hundreds of buoys. During the Second World War, Trinity House kept sea lanes marked and lighted forAllied convoys. The Pilotage Service guided ships to their ports under hazardous conditions; at the time of theDunkirk evacuation, a number of pilots helped in piloting vessels to and from the beaches.
On the night of 29 December 1940, Trinity House was destroyed by the most severe of theair attacks on London; the interiors were completely gutted and many archives and treasures were lost. (The restoredbuilding was reopened byElizabeth II on 21 October 1953.)
In preparation for theD-Daylandings on 6 June 1944, Trinity House laid 73 lighted buoys and two lightvessels to indicate a safe route for landing craft. Trinity House pilots were responsible for all commercial vessels involved and many of the service vessels. In the month following D-Day, nearly 3,000 vessels were handled by 88 river pilots and nearly 2,000 ships by 115 sea pilots working day and night.
In 1969, Trinity House initiated the debut of helicopter reliefs to and from offshore lighthouses, succeeding the boat reliefs. These had been susceptible to being delayed by months during inclement weather. Trinity House played a major part in the design of the IALA Maritime Buoyage System, laying the first buoy offDover, watched over by representatives of 16 nations on 15 April 1977.
By the 1960s, Trinity House licensed about 500 pilots, of whom about 350 were in the London District, handling an estimated 60% of the nation's piloted tonnage. ThePilotage Act 1987 authorized Trinity House to pass its District Pilotage responsibilities to variouslocal harbour authorities, becoming instead a licensing authority for deep sea pilotage.
The completion of the lighthouse automation programme came with a ceremony held at theNorth Foreland Lighthouse on 26 November 1998, attended by the last six keepers and master,Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. On 9 June 1989, the last crewed lightvessel was towed from the Channel lightvessel station to Harwich.
Richard Woodman served as elder brethren and member of the court from 2000 until his death in 2024.[10] In 2011, the Princess Royal succeededher father as Master.[11] She was aboardTrinity House Motor Boat No.1 during theDiamond Jubileepageant.
In 2014, theRoyal Mint issued atwo pound coin commemorating the 500th anniversary of the grant of Trinity House's royal charter.[12]
From 2011 to 2024,Captain Ian McNaught, a Merchant Navy Officer served as Deputy Master.[1] In 2024, he was succeeded as Deputy Master and Chief Executive byRear-Admiral Iain Lower.[1]
The Master of the Corporation (now anhonorary title) isAnne, Princess Royal. Previous Masters of Trinity House includePrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh;Vice-AdmiralSir Thomas Spert, master of the warshipHenry Grace à Dieu underHenry VIII; the diaristSamuel Pepys;William Pitt the Younger;Field Marshalthe Duke of Wellington; andAdmiralSir William Penn (father ofWilliam Penn, founder ofPennsylvania).
Other prominent individuals in Britain, often connected with commercial shipping orthe Admiralty, have been associated with Trinity House, includingWinston Churchill. He gained his status as an Elder Brother of Trinity House as a result of his position asFirst Lord of the Admiralty before and during theFirst World War.[13] Often, especially on naval-related forays during theSecond World War, Churchill was seen wearing the Trinity House cap or uniform. Churchill also had a Trinity House vessel (THV) named after him, THVWinston Churchill.[14]
Trinity House is ruled by acourt of thirty-one Elder Brethren, presided over by its Master. These are appointed from 300 Younger Brethren who act as advisors and perform other duties as needed. The Younger Brethren are appointed from lay people with maritime experience, mainlynaval officers andships' masters, but alsoharbourmasters,pilots,yachtsmen, and anyone with useful experience.[15]
Theheadquarters of the Corporation are the present Trinity House, which was designed by architectSamuel Wyatt and built in 1796. It has a suite of five state rooms with views over Trinity Square, theTower of London and theRiver Thames.
Trinity High Water (orHigh Water, Trinity Standard), abbreviatedT.H.W., was avertical datum used for legal purposes in the River Thames and informally over a much wider area. Though not thus defined, it was about 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m) above meansea level.[16][17]
The concept had its origin in theLondon Dock Act 1800 (39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. xlvii)[18] which authorised the making of theWapping basin of theLondon Docks and specified its minimum depthie. over thesill. At that time there was noOrdnance Datum or other accepted vertical benchmark. Therefore, the 1800 Act defined the benchmark for this dock as "the level of the river at low-water mark". Since opinions about this might vary, it added:
The same shall be settled and determined by two of the Elder Brothers of the Trinity House, within three calendar months next after the passing of this Act, who shall certify the same in writing under their hands and seals.
Accordingly, Trinity House — in the person ofCaptainJoseph Huddart[19] — set a stone in the external wing wall of theHermitage Entrance to theLondon Docks.[20] It was inscribed
Low water mark is 17 feet 10 inches below the lower edge of this stone, settled by the Corporation of Trinity House Augt. MDCCC
Similar stones were afterwards set for Wapping and Shadwell entrances.
This established a benchmark which was supposedly extended for further purposeseg. the sill heights of other docks and for high water also.[21]
Trinity High Water Mark was much used as a datum inLondon for legal purposes. It was required to be marked on all drawings of property adjacent to the river when submitted to theThames Conservancy. As another example, the minimum height of river walls were specified in feet and inches above T.H.W.[22] The benchmark was used in other contexts, such as "Luton is 400 feet above Trinity high-water";[23] the elevations of water reservoirs;[24] depths in the Geological Survey (London Basin);[25] the depth of an archaeological find;[26] and for railway elevations.[27][28]
Despite the importance of the Trinity Standard benchmark for legal purposes, it appears that there were discrepancies, some of them grave. Inconsistent standards purporting to be T.H.W. existed.[19] Some stones set by Captain Huddart afterwards could not be found.[29]
Eventually, it was deemed by thePort of London Act 1968 to be a level having a value of 11.4 feet (3.5 m) aboveOrdnance Datum Newlyn.[30] and thus the connection with the Trinity House marker stones was abandoned.
In legal cases involving issues ofnavigation orseamanshipeg. collisions at sea, Elder Brethren of Trinity House act asexpert nautical advisors to theAdmiralty Court inLondon. Usually, two Elder Brethren sit with theAdmiralty judge. Their function is not to decide the case themselves, but to advise the presiding judge about the practicalities of seamanship and ship handling. When this happens, the parties are not allowed to produce expert witnesses of their own without a special reason, since the court considers itself to be well enough advised already. But if one of the colliding ships was a Trinity House vessel, Elder Brethren cannot be employed.[31] Elder Brethren may perform the same functions in appeals.[32]
In a 2020 case[33] about a multiple ship collision in theSuez Canal the Admiralty judge wrote a 306-paragraph judgment ending thus:
I am grateful to Trinity House and its Elder Brethren for the expert and wholly independent advice they give to the Admiralty Court (and have given for over four centuries) on questions of seamanship and ship handling. Trinity House, since its incorporation in 1514, has been dedicated to the safety of navigation and the advice given by the Elder Brethren enables the Admiralty Court to ensure that its decisions reflect and uphold the standards and requirements of good seamanship... [O]ne of the functions of the Admiralty Court is to help to avoid collisions in the future, [and] Trinity House has an essential role in ensuring that that function of the Admiralty Court is discharged.
Trinity House has three main functions:
The Corporation also inspects buoys provided by local harbour authorities. It no longer provides local pilots for entering ports. Contrary to popular belief, Trinity House is not (and never has been) part ofHM Coastguard, although it does work closely withHMMaritime and Coastguard Agency.
Trinity House's activities as a lighthouse authority are financed from "light dues" levied on commercial shipping calling at ports in theUnited Kingdom.
Trinity House maintains 65[34] lighthouses ranging from isolated rock towers like theEddystone to mainland towers likeSouthwold lighthouse.
All Trinity House lighthouses have been automated since November 1998, when the UK's last staffed lighthouse,North Foreland inKent, was converted to automatic operation. Lighthouse automation began as long ago as 1910, thanks to an invention ofGustaf Dalén, whosesun valve was fitted in a number of lighthouses powered byacetylene gas. Its vital component was a black metal rod suspended vertically and connected to the gas supply which, as it absorbed the sun's heat, the rod expanded downwards, cutting off the gas during the day.[35]
Automation in the modern context began in the early 1980s, made possible firstly by the construction of lantern-top helipads at remote rock lighthouses, to enable the rapid transfer of technicians to a lighthouse in the event of a breakdown, and secondly, by the development of remote control technology, which enables all lighthouses and lightvessels to be monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations and Planning Centre at Harwich, Essex.[36]
The other General Lighthouse Authorities elsewhere in theBritish Isles are:
Trinity Housevessels have theship prefix THV. As of 2020[update] three such vessels operate around the coast of England, Wales and the Channel Islands.[37]
The Corporation operates a number of small boats, mostly functioning astenders to Trinity House vessels as described in the section above. The historic right of Trinity House to escort theSovereign when travelling by ship interritorial waters is still exercised onceremonial occasions. On the River Thames and inland waterways the duty is carried out by the vessel designatedTrinity House No 1 Boat,[38] a name which designates any boat assigned to this duty; as of 2020[update] a tender of THVGalatea is used for such ceremonial duties.[39] However, for theThames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012, this boat had the name "T.H. No 1 Boat" painted onto the bow (port and starboard) whilst carrying the Master (the Princess Royal) in the jubilee flotilla.[40] On 8 November 2014, Trinity House entered a float for the annualLord Mayor's Show in theCity of London, consisting of a heavy low-loader lorry, with theTrinity House No 1 Boat mounted on the low-loader trailer as an exhibit.
As a charitable body, the corporation has owned a number of properties for benevolent purposes, chief among them theestate atNewington insouth London (now rebranded as Trinity Village) andalmshouses atDeptford,Mile End, andWalmer; the last of these estates was built in 1958 and remains in use by the corporation today as one of two listed estates: one of predominantly residential buildings at Trinity Village inBorough, London;[41] and a working farm, formerlyBooth property, atGoxhill inLincolnshire.[42] The rents from these properties form a substantial part of the Corporation's income.[43]
Amongst other significant assets, Trinity House operates ahelicopter capable of landing on lighthouse andship landing pads. From May 2011 to November 2015, the aircraft in principal use was anMD Helicopters MD Explorer 902 owned byPolice Aviation Services (PAS) and operated under lease.[44] Since December 2015 aEurocopter EC135 G-GLAA owned and operated byPDG Aviation Services has fulfilled the role.[45]
TheEnsign of Trinity House is aBritishRed Ensign defaced with theshield of the coat of arms (aSt George's Cross with asailing ship in eachquarter). The Master and Deputy Master each have their owndifferencedflags.[46]
When escorting the Sovereign, Trinity House vessels may fly theWhite Ensign.[47]
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Owen, Richard (1884).Antiquity of man as deduced from the discovery of a human skeleton during the excavations for the East and West India dock-extensions at Tilbury, north Bank of the Thames. Van Voorst. p. 3 – viaWikisource.
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