"Three In One" , formation = , founding_location =

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, London, England , status =

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , headquarters = Trinity House,

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England , region = , membership = , leader_title = Master , leader_name =

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of ...

, leader_title2 = Deputy Master , leader_name2 = Captain Ian McNaught , revenue = £38,405,000 (2020) , expenses = £46,801,000 (2020) , staff = 312 (2020) , website
trinityhouse.co.uk
TrinityHouseLondon

The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House (and formally as The 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 for

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

s in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

and

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

. Trinity House is also responsible for the provision and maintenance of other navigational aids, such as

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of y ...

s, and maritime radio/satellite communication systems. It is also an official deep sea

pilotage Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or ai ...

authority, providing expert navigators for ships trading in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...

an waters. Trinity House is also a maritime charity, 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. Funding for the work of the lighthouse service comes from "

light dues Light dues are the charges levied on ships for the maintenance of lighthouses and other aids to navigation. British Isles Light dues are levied on commercial vessels and larger pleasure boats calling at ports in the British Isles and paid into the ...

" levied on commercial vessels calling at ports in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...

, based on the net registered tonnage of the vessel. The rate is set by the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

, and annually reviewed. Funding for the maritime charity is generated separately. The corporation was founded in 1514. Its first master was Thomas Spert (later Sir),

sailing master The master, or sailing master, is a historical rank for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel. The rank can be equated to a professional seaman and specialist in navigation, rather than as a militar ...

of Henry VIII's flagship ''

Mary Rose The ''Mary Rose'' (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her ...

'' and of ''

Henry Grace à Dieu ''Henry Grace à Dieu'' ("Henry, Thanks be to God"), also known as ''Great Harry'', was an English carrack or " great ship" of the King's Fleet in the 16th century, and in her day the largest warship in the world. Contemporary with '' Mary Ros ...

.''

Master of the Corporation

The Master of the Corporation (now an honorary title) is

. Previous Masters of Trinity House have included

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

;

Vice-Admiral of England The Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is an honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. The title holder is the official deputy to the Lord High Admiral, an honorary (although once operational) office which was vested in t ...

Thomas Spert, master of the warship ''

'' under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

; the diarist

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

;

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ir ...

;

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

the Duke of Wellington; and

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...

(father of

, founder of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

). Other prominent individuals in Britain, often connected with commercial shipping or the Admiralty, have been associated with Trinity House, including

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

. He gained his status as an Elder Brother of Trinity House as a result of his position as

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

before and during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Often, especially on naval-related forays during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Churchill was seen in the Trinity House cap or uniform. Churchill also had a Trinity House vessel (THV) named after him, THV ''Winston Churchill''.

Governance

Trinity House is ruled by a court of thirty-one Elder Brethren, presided over by a 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, mainly naval officers and ships' masters, but also harbourmasters, pilots, yachtsmen, and anyone with useful experience.

Headquarters of the Corporation

The headquarters of the corporation is the present Trinity House, which was designed by architect

Samuel Wyatt Samuel Wyatt (8 September 1737, Weeford, Staffs. – London, 8 February 1807) was an English architect and engineer. A member of the Wyatt family, which included several notable 18th- and 19th-century English architects, his work was primarily in a ...

and built in 1796. It has a suite of five state rooms with views over Trinity Square, the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

History

The Corporation came into being in 1514 by

granted by

under the name "The 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." The charter came as a result of a petition put forward on 19 March 1513 by a guild of

-based mariners. They were troubled by the poor conduct of unregulated pilots on the Thames and asked the king for licence to regulate pilotage. The first Master was Thomas Spert (later Sir), sailing master of Henry's flagship ''

'' and the ''

''. The name of the guild derives from the

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

and St. Clement, the patron saint of mariners. As John Whormby, a Clerk to the Corporation, wrote in 1746, their general business was: In 1566, Elizabeth I's Seamarks Act enabled Trinity House: 050123 28 bristol lightship

With the increasing number of ships lost along the Newcastle to London coal route, Trinity House established the

Lowestoft Lighthouse Lowestoft Lighthouse is a lighthouse operated by Trinity House located to the north of the centre of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. It stands on the North Sea coast close to Ness Point, the most easterly point in the United Kingdom. ...

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-burning Argand lamp, the first ‘catoptric’ mirrored reflector in 1777, and Fresnel’s ‘dioptric’ lens system in 1823. The Nore lightship was established as the world's first floating light in 1732. Trinity House took over the management of all public buoys in the kingdom in 1594 from the Lord High Admiral. A warrant, dated 11 June 1594, granted to the corporation the right of, By 1847, revenue collected from this source was £11,000 to £12,000 per year. In 1836, Trinity House accepted powers 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 is in

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring District, Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-w ...

, supported by depots in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the C ...

and a flight operations base at St Just in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

. Its operations are also supported by three vessels; the two large tenders THV ''Patricia'' and THV ''Galatea'', and the Rapid Intervention Vessel THV ''Alert''. A small secretariat is based at

. 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 for Allied

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

s. The Pilotage Service guided ships to their ports under hazardous conditions; at the time of the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

, 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 the air attacks on London; the interiors were completely gutted and many archives and treasures were lost. (The restored house was reopened by

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

on 21 October 1953.) In preparation for the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings 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 off Dover, 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. The 1987 Pilotage Act authorized Trinity House to pass its District Pilotage responsibilities to various local harbour authorities, becoming instead a licensing authority for deep sea pilotage. The completion of the lighthouse automation programme came with a ceremony held at the

North Foreland Lighthouse North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England, specifically in Broadstairs. With the rest of Broadstairs and part of Ramsgate it is the eastern side of Kent's largest peninsula, the Isle of Thanet. It presents a bo ...

on 26 November 1998, attended by the last six keepers and Master, the Duke of Edinburgh. On 9 June 1989, the last manned lightvessel was towed from the Channel lightvessel station to Harwich. As a charitable body, the Corporation has owned a number of properties for benevolent purposes, chief among them the estate at Newington in south London (now rebranded as Trinity Village) and

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s at

, Mile End, and Walmer; the last of these estates was built in 1958 and is in use by the corporation today. In 2011, the Princess Royal succeeded the Duke of Edinburgh as Master. She was aboard ''Trinity House Motor Boat No.1'' during the

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

procession. In 2014, the

Royal Mint The Royal Mint is the United Kingdom's oldest company and the official maker of British coins. Operating under the legal name The Royal Mint Limited, it is a limited company that is wholly owned by HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury and is un ...

issued a two pound coin commemorating the 500th anniversary of the granting of Trinity House's Royal Charter.

Trinity High Water

Trinity High Water (or High Water, Trinity Standard), abbreviated T.H.W., was a vertical 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 above mean sea level. The concept had its origin in the London Dock Act 1800 which authorised the making of the Wapping basin of the London Docks and specified its minimum depth i.e. over the

sill Sill may refer to: * Sill (dock), a weir at the low water mark retaining water within a dock * Sill (geology), a subhorizontal sheet intrusion of molten or solidified magma * Sill (geostatistics) * Sill (river), a river in Austria * Sill plate, ...

. At that time there was no

Ordnance Datum In the British Isles, an ordnance datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level (MSL) is used ...

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 Accordingly. Trinity House — in the person of Captain Joseph Huddart — set a stone in the external wing wall of the Hermitage entrance to the London Docks. It was inscribed Similar stones were afterwards set for Wapping and Shadwell entrances. This established a benchmark which was supposedly extended for further purposes e.g. the sill heights of other docks and for high water also. Trinity High Water Mark was much used as a datum in London for legal purposes. It was required to be marked on all drawings of property adjacent to the river when submitted to the

Thames Conservancy The Thames Conservancy (formally the Conservators of the River Thames) was a body responsible for the management of the that river in England. It was founded in 1857 to replace the jurisdiction of the City of London up to Staines. Nine years la ...

. As another example, the minimum height of river walls were specified in feet and inches above T.H.W. The benchmark was used in other contexts, such as "Luton is 400 feet above Trinity high-water"; the elevations of water reservoirs; depths in the Geological Survey (London Basin); the depth of an archaeological find; and for railway elevations. 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. Some stones set by Captain Huddart afterwards could not be found. Eventually, it was deemed by the Port of London Act 1968 to be a level having a value of 11.4 feet (3.475 metres) above Ordnance Datum Newlyn. and thus the connection with the Trinity House marker stones was abandoned.

Nautical assessors

In legal cases involving issues of navigation or seamanship e.g. collisions at sea, Elder Brethren of Trinity House act as expert nautical advisers to the

Admiralty Court Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries, and offences. Admiralty courts in the United Kingdom England and Wales Scotland The Scottish court's earliest ...

in London. Usually, two Elder Brethren sit with the Admiralty 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. Elder Brethren may perform the same functions in appeals. In a 2020 case about a multiple ship collision in the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popula ...

the Admiralty judge wrote a 306-paragraph judgment ending thus:

Operational responsibilities and role of the corporation

Trinity House has three main functions: *It is the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, responsible for a range of general aids to navigation, 'signs of the sea', from lighthouses to radar beacons. *It is a charitable organisation dedicated to the safety, welfare and training of mariners. *It is a Deep Sea Pilotage Authority, licensing expert navigators to act as deep sea pilots for ships trading in Northern European waters. 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 of HM Coastguard, although it does work closely with the

Maritime and Coastguard Agency The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent marine ...

. Trinity House's activities as a lighthouse authority are financed from "

" levied on commercial shipping calling at ports in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

Assets

Trinity House Flag on Portland Bill Lighthouse

* Lighthouses in England * Lightvessels in the United Kingdom

Lighthouses

Trinity House maintains 65 lighthouses ranging from isolated rock towers like the Eddystone to mainland towers like Southwold lighthouse. All Trinity House lighthouses have been automated since November 1998, when the UK's last manned lighthouse,

North Foreland North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England, specifically in Broadstairs. With the rest of Broadstairs and part of Ramsgate it is the eastern side of Kent's largest peninsula, the Isle of Thanet. It presents a ...

in Kent, was converted to automatic operation. Lighthouse automation began as long ago as 1910, thanks to an invention of Gustaf Dalén. His

sun valve A sun valve (''Swedish: solventil'', "solar valve") is a flow control valve that automatically shuts off gas flow during daylight. It earned its inventor Gustaf Dalén the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physics. Subsequently other variants of sun valve were ...

was fitted in a number of lighthouses powered by

acetylene Acetylene ( systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure ...

gas. The vital component was a black metal rod, which was suspended vertically and connected to the gas supply. As it absorbed the sun's heat, the rod expanded downwards, cutting off the gas during the day. 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, in Harwich, Essex. The other General Lighthouse Authorities in other parts of the

: * Commissioners of Irish Lights — Ireland (

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

and

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

) * Northern Lighthouse Board (formerly known as Commissioners for Northern Lights) — Scotland and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

Vessels

Ships

THV Patricia, off Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK

Trinity House vessels have the

ship prefix A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel's mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/n ...

THV. three such vessels operate around the coast of England, Wales and the Channel Islands. * THV ''Patricia'' (1982) is an 86.3m Multi Functional Tender that carries out maintenance work on navigation aids, towing, wreck location and marking. She has a helicopter-landing pad, a 20-tonne main crane and 28-tonne bollard pull and towing

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attach ...

. * THV ''Alert'' (2006) is a 39.3 m Rapid Intervention Vessel, able to respond rapidly to maritime incidents on the southeast coast of England. She is capable of buoy handling, wreck marking and towing. Fitted with multibeam and side scan hydrographic surveying capability and DP1 dynamic positioning, ''Alert'' can be utilised as a research platform with a large working deck. * THV ''Galatea'' (2007) is an 84m Multi Functional Tender with a helicopter-landing pad. Fitted with a range of high specification survey equipment and a 30-tonne capacity crane, azimuthing propellers, two 750 kW bow thrusters and DP2 dynamic positioning, ''Galatea'' replaced the 1987-built THV ''Mermaid''.

Boats

Trinity House operates a number of small boats, mostly functioning as ship's tenders to the vessels in the section above. The historic right of Trinity House to escort the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

when travelling by ship in

territorial waters The term territorial waters is sometimes used informally to refer to any area of water over which a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potent ...

is still exercised on ceremonial occasions. On the River Thames and inland waterways the duty is carried out by the vessel designated ''Trinity House No 1 Boat'', a name which designates any boat assigned to this duty; a tender of THV ''Galatea'' is used for such ceremonial duties. However, for the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on 3 June 2012, this boat had the name "T.H. No 1 Boat" painted onto the bow (left and right sides) whilst carrying the Master (the Princess Royal) in the jubilee flotilla. On 8 November 2014, Trinity House entered a float into the annual Lord Mayor's Show in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

, consisting of a heavy low-loader lorry, with the ''Trinity House No 1 Boat'' mounted on the low-loader trailer as an exhibit.

Property

In addition to the maritime assets, the Corporation of Trinity House also owns two listed estates: one of predominantly residential buildings at Trinity Village in Borough, London; and a working farm at Goxhill, Lincolnshire. The rents from these properties form a substantial part of the corporation's income.

Other assets

Amongst other significant assets, Trinity House operates a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

capable of landing on lighthouse and ship landing pads. From May 2011 to November 2015, the aircraft in principal use was an MD Helicopters MD Explorer 902 owned by Police Aviation Services (PAS) and operated under lease. Since December 2015 a

Eurocopter EC135 The Eurocopter EC135 (now Airbus Helicopters H135) is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters (formerly known as Eurocopter). It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted wit ...

G-GLAA owned and operated by PDG Aviation Services has fulfilled the role.

Ensign

The Ensign of Trinity House is a British Red Ensign defaced with the shield of the coat of arms (a St George's Cross with a sailing ship in each quarter). The Master and Deputy Master each have their own flags. When escorting the sovereign, Trinity House vessels may fly the White Ensign. File:Trinity House Flag (pre-1937).svg, (pre-1937) File:Trinity House Ensign (pre-1937).svg, Ensign (pre-1937) File:Trinity House Master's Flag RMG RP-32-3-4.jpg,

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Flag (1901-1937) File:Trinity House Flag.svg, (1937–present) File:Trinity House Ensign.svg, Ensign (1937–present)

Notes

References

The Corporation of the Hull Trinity House, established 1369.The Newcastle Trinity House.europilots.org.uk
*"A fortnight in Egypt at the opening of the Suez Canal," London : Smith and Ebbs, 1869. Written by Captain Sir Frederick Arrow eputy Master of Trinity House

External links

Trinity House official websitePhotos of vessels1685 Royal Charter of Trinity HouseTrinity Hospital, Mile End – Survey of London, Monograph 1
{{Authority control 1514 establishments in England Grade I listed buildings in the City of London Department for Transport Lighthouse organizations National government buildings in London Non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Organisations based in the City of London Water transport in England Water transport in Wales