Sunset over the Skerries lighthouse.
(C.J. Foulds)
THE coastline of England and Wales measures some 2,405 nautical miles, while that of Scotland, indented by its many sea lochs, extends to 6,214 miles. The process of lighting these coastal areas is one that has been continuing, albeit fitfully, since the Dark Ages. It is still not complete – the Northern Lighthouse Board has constructed several new lighthouses and beacons around the Scottish coasts over the past couple of decades to guide the massive vessels that travel to and from the Shetlands oil terminal through the treacherous waters around these islands.
Many of the early beacons were very crude affairs indeed – cliff top bonfires or coal-burning grates – totally inadequate by later standards, yet these first attempts to guide early mariners back to port or away from danger were the forerunners of the modern British lighthouse system. Unfortunately, while there were those who strove to lessen the danger of travelling the seas in darkness by maintaining such devices – notably the Church, shipowners or local councils – equally popular was the practice of erecting false beacons, luring ships to their peril and earning for the wreckers a lucrative income from the looting of their cargo. Since those early days, the building of lighthouses and beacons has kept pace with man’s advances in technology until today we have an almost foolproof system to guide the mariners of the world safely around our coasts.
The administration of all the lighthouses, buoys and beacons of England, Wales and Scotland is the responsibility of just two organisations; the Corporation of Trinity House and the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses. It is, perhaps, appropriate at this point to look briefly at the history of these two venerable bodies. In this way a better historical understanding will be gained of the individual lighthouses that follow.
By far the elder of the two bodies is Trinity House, which is empowered to construct and maintain the buoys, beacons and lighthouses around the coasts of England and Wales as well as the lighthouses of the Channel Islands and a solitary station in Gibraltar. Sadly, many details of the early history of Trinity House have been lost owing to the devastations of the Civil War, the Great Fire of London, a further fire in 1714, and the particularly disastrous enemy bombing of London in December 1940. However, it is probable that the organisation as we know it evolved from one of the seaman’s guilds or associations which were in existence in the Middle Ages. These were essentially charitable organisations that took responsibility for retired seamen, their widows and orphans, as well as providing pilots and recommending suitable sites for buoys and beacons in their particular area. In the 16th century there were known to be such guilds in Dover, Hull, Scarborough, Newcastle, Leith and Dundee, while the most influential was probably the Trinity Guild based at Deptford Strond, an old mooring place on the banks of the River Thames. It had connections with the Catholic Church as its full and rather verbose title, ‘The Master, Wardens and Assistants of the Guild, Fraternity or Brotherhood of the Most Glorious and Undividable Trinity and of Saint Clement in the Parish of Deptford Strond in the County of Kent,’ confirms.
In 1514 King Henry VIII granted a Royal Charter to the Trinity Guild that allowed it to draw up rules for the benefit of English shipping and deal appropriately with any breaches of these regulations. When Henry was succeeded by Edward VI the Guild changed its name to the more familiar ‘Corporation of Trinity House on Deptford Strond’ to avoid drawing unwanted attention to their religious background, as it was at this time that the dissolution of the monasteries was in full swing. Similar charters to that of 1514 were also granted to the other guilds which also then became known as Trinity House.
The 1514 charter was confirmed by subsequent monarchs, Edward VI in 1547, Mary in 1553 and Elizabeth I in 1558, but it was not until 1566 that the first connection between Trinity House and navigational aids was apparent. In that year an Act of Parliament was passed that granted the authority to, “...the Mayster, Wardens and Assistaunts of the Trinitie House of Deptforde Strond, being a Company of the chiefest and mooste experte Maysters and Governours of Shipps...” to, “...from tyme to tyme, hereafter at theyre Wylles and Pleasures, and at their Costes make erecte and set up such and so many Beakons Markes and Signes for the Sea, in such Place or Places of the Sea Shore and Uplandes near the Sea Costes or Forelands of the Sea, onely for Sea Markes, as to them shall seeme most meete needeful and requisyte, whereby the Daungers maye be avoyded and escaped, and Shippes the better coome into their Portes without Peryll.” Its authority was widened in 1594 by a further grant from Elizabeth I which allowed Trinity House to place buoys off-shore and in navigational channels.
Two points should be noted about these charters. Firstly, there is no mention in any of them about a structure called a ‘lighthouse’, only “beacons, marks and signs of the sea.” This was to be a bone of contention between Trinity House and the Crown for many years to come as the Corporation argued that their Royal Charter implied that a lighthouse, which after all was definitely a ‘sea mark,’ was included within the scope of these documents and therefore to them had been granted the sole right to erect lighthouses around the coasts of England and Wales. Unfortunately, the law officers and law courts at that time disagreed, stating that such a right remained with the Crown. The second point of note is that there is no facility within the Royal Charters to allow for the expense of construction to be reimbursed, or for the collection of maintenance dues from passing shipping to be enforced. Such authority had to be applied for from the Crown after the completion of each project.
Any individual or collective body could erect a lighthouse in Britain provided they applied to the Crown for a patent. If granted, such a patent authorised its applicant to erect his lighthouse and collect dues for a specified number of years from shipping passing the light when they reached port. For this privilege, the patentee had to pay an annual rent to the Crown. The patentee could either be Trinity House itself or a private individual, but whoever applied for such a patent had to submit a petition to the Crown detailing the need for such a structure from local seamen and merchants, who also had to pledge their willingness to pay an appropriate levy when the lighthouse was operational. Each application was carefully scrutinised by the Privy Council, which often consulted Trinity House when private applications were received, when such matters as the proper management of the proposed lighthouse was considered, as well as the social standing and financial viability of the individuals concerned. If all was found to be in order then the patent was granted, although Trinity House were somewhat jealous of their Royal Charter and objected to many applications using what became their standard argument that if a lighthouse was necessary at a certain location then they themselves would have erected one. This was somewhat difficult to reconcile as they also frequently repeated a statement, to the effect that they did not propose lighthouses until they received petitions from local interests for one. The outcome of this somewhat muddled situation was that Trinity House often received the patent for a lighthouse and then granted a lease for a private individual to build it for them. This was an eminently satisfactory arrangement for Trinity House as the entire expense of erection was born by the lessee while the Corporation received rent if the construction was successful.
The problem of collecting light dues was overcome by most patentees by entering into an arrangement with the Trinity House agent based at the London Custom House. He in turn employed agents in about one hundred ports who collected the dues from shipping and were paid a percentage commission for doing so. This figure could be as much as 20-25 per cent in the period up to the mid-19th century and led to light due collectors in some of the busier ports becoming very rich men indeed, with considerable influence in the affairs of Trinity House. The rates of lighthouse dues were also very steep. The exact figure varied with the size of the vessel, its cargo and destination, and also how many lights it would pass en route. Foreign vessels were always charged double. Such high rates were necessary, argued Trinity House, to enable them to fulfil their original commitment to look after the welfare of retired or distressed mariners and their families. The owners of private lighthouses had no such drain on their income, yet the rates they charged were equally excessive. It is not difficult to see the enormous financial advantages gained from the granting of a patent for a private lighthouse that resulted in the alleged advice to prospective patentees to “...watch the moment when the King is in a good temper to ask him for a lighthouse.”
Parliamentary Select Committees of 1820, 1834 and 1842 recommended reductions in the percentage commission paid to light due collectors and that a standard rate of dues should be levied. The rate of commission was duly slashed to a mere 3¾ per cent, and a further Select Committee of 1845 said that “...if Light-Dues shall continue, they ought to be collected by the officers of Customs in every port of the United Kingdom free of all charge whatsoever...”. This was duly authorised and since then light dues have been collected by HM Customs and paid to the Board of Trade, now known as the Department of Trade and Industry. The auditing of accounts pertaining to the General Lighthouse Fund is done by Trinity House.
A golden ray of light strikes the elegant façade of Trinity House on Tower Hill, the building from which all the lighthouses of England and Wales are administered.
(Mark Denton Photographic)
The patent of each lighthouse had to be renewed at intervals when the efficiency and reliability of the light were again considered by the Privy Council who could grant a further patent to its original builder or return the light to the jurisdiction of Trinity House. In the early days of lighthouse construction there was a very real risk that the cost of maintenance and the keepers’ wages, together with the rental paid to the Crown, could exceed the dues collected from vessels passing the light. However, after about the middle of the 18th century when there was a rapid growth in sea trade, particularly with the New World, many lighthouses which were run by private individuals became lucrative sources of income for their fortunate owners, a fact which had not gone unnoticed by Parliament and Trinity House.
Trinity House’s crest bears the latin inscription ‘Trinitas In Unitate’ – ‘Three In One’ – a reference to its original functions of controlling the lighthouses and lightships, providing pilotage in major ports, and as a charitable organisation for distressed mariners.
(Trinity House)
An Act of Parliament of 1822 decreed that no further extensions to lighthouse patents should be granted and that Trinity House should be at liberty to purchase private lighthouses from their patentee if both were agreeable and a suitable sum could be negotiated. Naturally enough, there were many patentees who were unwilling to part with their own private ‘goldmines’ and stubbornly resisted the coercions of Trinity House. They would have been less than pleased therefore when a Parliamentary Committee of Enquiry in 1834 made detailed investigations into the management and profitability of all British lighthouses that required their owners to produce the accounts for the year of 1832. With much reluctance the figures were eventually produced and revealed, as was expected, soaring profits from most of the private lights.
All this, however, was soon to come to an end. As a result of the Parliamentary Enquiry an Act of 1836 was passed giving Trinity House the authority to purchase the patents of all the lighthouses of England and Wales which were still the property of private individuals. There were only ten of these yet their purchase cost a staggering £1,182,546. Exact details of several of these transactions appear in later chapters. The sale of the last private lighthouse was completed by 1841.
The 1836 Act was also a milestone in the history of Trinity House for two further reasons. Since they were now responsible for the management and maintenance of all English and Welsh lighthouses, a standard rate of duty could be charged, regardless of how many lights were passed in the voyage, which was a vast improvement on the old system whereby different lighthouses levied duties at varying rates, all of which had to be calculated and collected for each light passed. Also, all light dues collected by the Corporation were henceforward used solely for maintaining and improving their lighthouses, rather than being diverted for charitable purposes in helping retired seamen and their dependants – the original purpose of the Trinity House Guild. Since 1836 Trinity House has been able to erect a lighthouse in England or Wales without first obtaining a patent from the Crown.
The day to day running of Trinity House is the responsibility of ten ‘Elder Brethren’ who swear solemn oaths of loyalty to the sovereign. In addition they are advised by several hundred seamen known as ‘Younger Brethren.’ The Corporation also employs numerous scientific, executive and clerical officers. The headquarters has moved from Deptford Strond across the river, and is today found at ‘Trinity House’ on Tower Hill. From this magnificent building the administration of a service which is now responsible for 72 lighthouses, 10 light vessels/light floats, 412 buoys, 19 beacons, 48 radar beacons, and 7 satellite navigation reference stations is conducted. Because these stations are spread along the length of the English and Welsh coastline, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, Trinity House originally had six depots, but these have been rationalised to just two – at Harwich and Swansea. Their two sea-going tenders, Patricia and Mermaid, operate from these bases that also have the facilities to maintain and repair lights and buoys. Harwich is also the base from which all of the Trinity Houses navigational aids are monitored 24 hours a day. Alert is a smaller ‘emergency response vessel’ based in the Straits of Dover that can deal with wrecks or buoy collisions within a matters of hours. Around the coastline of England and Wales there are also many local and harbour authorities which have been granted the authority to establish and maintain their own navigation lights and buoys that are subject to regular inspections by Trinity House officers who are required to be consulted before any alterations are enforced.
The Northern Lighthouse Board’s imposing Georgian headquarters are in George Street, Edinburgh. Over the front door is a model of the Bell Rock lighthouse.
(Northern Lighthouse Board)
The lighthouses of Scotland and the Isle of Man are administered and maintained by the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, often referred to as the Northern Lighthouse Board. By comparison with Trinity House, their history is a straightforward affair with few of the legal intricacies which are so characteristic of their English counterpart.
Prior to the mid-18th century Scottish foreign trade was almost negligible and therefore the need for lighthouses of no great concern. In 1760 only six existed, but with the upturn in maritime trade during the latter half of the century demand grew for lighting various sites, particularly along the estuary of the River Clyde. In due course a body known as the Cumbrae Lighthouse Trustees was inaugurated in May 1757 to erect a lighthouse on Little Cumbrae, an island straddling the mouth of the Clyde estuary. The Trust was authorised by the Parliament of the day and was moderately successful in its aims. This led to an Act of Parliament being passed in 1786 to establish four more lighthouses, ‘...for the security of navigation and the fishermen in the Northern Parts of Great Britain’ away from the Clyde, and for the trustees of these lights to collect appropriate dues from passing vessels when complete. The Trustees would be: the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland, the Lord Provosts of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, the Provost of Inverness and the Chairman of Argyll and Bute, the Sheriffs-Principal of the counties with a coastline, plus various magistrates. They would henceforth be known as the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses and the composition of this body today remains exactly the same as in 1786. Its headquarters are in George Street, Edinburgh.
The Northern Lighthouse Board inherited the responsibility for the Manx lighthouses as a result of an Act of Parliament in 1815. At that time the merchants of Liverpool and the Isle of Man were petitioning Trinity House to construct lights on the island. The levy Trinity House proposed for doing so was considered so extortionately high – justified by the Corporation once again as being required to allow them to fulfil their charitable obligations – that the merchants demanded the lights be administered by the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses whose dues would therefore be lower. This arrangement exists to the present day.
The Northern Lighthouse Board is a much smaller organisation than Trinity House. It controls and maintains 212 lighthouses, 154 buoys, 47 beacons, 25 radar beacons and 4 satellite navigation reference stations. Although it functions as an independent body it is interesting to note that any new lighthouse construction in Scottish waters requires the consent of Trinity House before it can take place. Both lighthouse services come under the general control of the Department of Trade and Industry.
The cost of the lighthouse services provided by Trinity House and the Northern Lighthouse Board are met from a common fund known as the General Lighthouse Fund (GLF) whose principal income is ‘light dues’ levied on different classes of shipping calling at ports in the UK. Until April 1993 these were collected by HM Customs and Excise, but since that date they have been the responsibility of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers in all areas except the Isle of Man where Light Dues are still collected by Customs. The Secretary of State for Transport has responsibility for the GLF and sets the level of dues to be charged in order to maintain the Fund in proportion to costs of the service. Because of the programmes of automation and conversion to solar power it has actually been possible to reduce light dues by an astonishing 40% over the last decade. Both Trinity House and the Northern Lighthouse Board are non-profit making bodies that are funded by their users at no cost to the taxpayer.
Like most self-financing bodies these days, ways to improve the efficiency of the service the give and reduce overheads are always high on the agenda. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the British lighthouse service. Both Trinity House and the NLB have, in recent years, undergone major reviews in this respect with the result that both bodies are now significantly smaller in terms of manpower, the numbers of navigational aids under their control, and the size of their supporting fleets, than they were just a decade ago. Rapidly advancing technology has meant that any lighthouse can now be made to function automatically without the need for keepers – with tremendous financial savings.
Trinity House announced the findings of a major three-year ‘Navaid Review’ during 1987 that proposed the discontinuing or transferring to local harbour and port authorities of almost one third of the navigational aids it was previously responsible for. The recommendation that 63 of these aids to navigation were no longer necessary reflected technological advances both within the lighthouse service and on board vessels themselves. The development and improvement of the ‘racon’ (radar beacon) has also meant that that certain major floating aids such as lightvessels could be replaced by buoys or ‘lightfloats’ equipped with racons.
The NLB crest carries the inscription ‘In Salutem Omnium’ – ‘For the Safety of All’
(Northern Lighthouse Board)
Another joint review by all three UK General Lighthouse Authorities published in 2005 was intended to address current and future requirements for national and international shipping around our coasts up until 2010. The idea of these regular reviews is prudent management and planning for the future – “to ensure that the aids to navigation provided by the GLAs in the interest of general navigation are cost-effective and continue to meet the present changing need of all mariners and comply wherever possible with internationally-accepted criteria and that timely reviews of the GLAs’ aids to navigation are carried out to facilitate financial, operational and engineering planning.”
This particular review recommended a whole raft of different measures from discontinuing certain lights while establishing new ones, altering the character of their lights, reducing or increasing their range, replacing lights with racons, discontinuing their fog signals, or handing them over to local harbour authorities. Almost every combination of change you can imagine will take place at various locations around our coasts in the next few years. There will then be another review to reassess the situation as navigation requirements will no doubt change further in line with developing technology.
It is true to say that both lighthouse services recognise that less reliance is now placed on traditional aids to navigation by many vessels equipped with well maintained on-board navigational aids such as satellite navigation that can be accurate to within five metres. However, there is also a significant number of vessels using the waters around our coasts that are not so well equipped or their on-board aids are liable to frequent malfunction or to unskilled use by inadequately trained personnel. It is for the latter vessels, and to reduce the risk to life and the possibility of environmental pollution from an incident, that the majority of our lighthouses, lightvessels, buoys and beacons need to be maintained.
In this way the British lighthouse service of the 21st century will probably be a completely automatic yet highly sophisticated network of lighthouses, lightvessels, buoys, fog signals, radar beacons and satellite navigation stations that provide just as reliable a service to the mariner as it has always done – at a fraction of the cost.
