Lighthouses in Greenwich

 

Last week’s article was in some ways a preliminary look at the great sewage works at Crossness. Later, I thought to myself that I should start from the beginning - although I’m very far from sure what ‘beginning’ means in terms of Crossness.  Clearly the sewage works itself was built on the riverside in what was then some desolate marshland - perhaps we should look at that.  The sewage gets there having been  pumped from the older engine house at Deptford –is there some way we can light our way back there?

Perhaps I should start with the Riverside.   There are a lot of ancient names along the River - they might be interesting - and there are many other things as well - as we will see.  ‘Crossness Point ‘on the riverside is where the River, and its bank.  turns at a distinct angle to the east.  It seems that this was also once called ‘Leather Bottle Point’.  I guess that related to the Leather Bottle pub which until recenlty stood on the hillside above the marshes here.  In fact Google Street view dates from 2012 when the pub was still open!  To see what happened to it, there is a blow by blow account at https://bexley-is-bonkers.co.uk/indices/leather_bottle_related.php

There are lots of places along the lower Thames which are.... something ‘nesses.  It’s supposed to be a suffix surviving from the Vikings, meaning ‘a point’.  There are and were many more. One which people may not know about is on a Tudor map which shows the Greenwich Peninsula. Right where the Dome is now is marked as ‘Lea ness’ –The Lea of course being the tributary river on the other side of the Thames.

 I’m afraid the actual Crossness Point isn’t actually in Greenwich. It’s in the London Borough of Bexley- but only just!  A little bit further on along the riverside into Bexley - but not very far -is the Crossness Light.  Lots of people will tell you that there’s ‘only one lighthouse in London’. I’ll come back to that ‘only one’ and it’s not a real lighthouse either.  But the Crossness light, and several other do the work of lighthouses - they don’t have a house but they are on a structure with a light attached which flashes according to a programme.  They are navigational aids.

There is only one light actually in Greenwich. It’s the next one up river before Crossness...and, kik Crosness it is at a point at which the River turns at an angle. It’s also called 'Margaret ness’. I guess it’s called that because it’s opposite Barking, on the other side of the River, and the Barking Parish church, which is very, very ancient, is dedicated to St Margaret of Antioch.  The name ‘Tripcock’ is to do with river regulations from the days of sailing ships   beyond this point sailing ships heading inland were forbidden to carry anchors cable hung out over the sides ready to let go. This practice was called "a-cock-bill" or "cock bille” .

It was here that the Princess Alice was rundown in 1878 and 650 people drowned in the polluted Thames, 

Tripcock Light came to local people’s attention a couple of weeks ago when the Blogger, Murky Depths,   wrote about how it was due to be demolished.  This predictably led to a number of horrified responses and calls for it to be kept as a historic monument. It was  however followed by a different lot of comments which said ‘look this is a working river so you need to look at these lights as aids to navigation and they have a very serious purpose and are being modernised’.

When I read  a bit more about it I realised that Murky had only told us a tiny bit of the story. There had been a big consultation carried out by the Port of London Authority earlier in the year about the lights - should they be there or not ?  What would a modernised light be like? A lot of work had gone into that.   The PLA website has pages telling us what the new light’s structures are going to be like. And in any case these structures have been changed continually over the years. https://pla.co.uk/removal-aids-navigation-port-london

Further downriver the old Shoremeads light is preserved in Denton,outside Gravesend,  and is available thee for anyone to go  and look.  

 I rather suspect people won't know Denton. If you go east of Gravesend along the river you get to a famous pub which is in Dickens, called the Ship and Lobster. However generally the area around it is about as bottom level industrial slum  as you can get - a lot of dirt and old lorries. The Port of London Authority moved out of its very  posh headquarters in opposite the Tower of London  and now operates from sites in Gravesend. They have a huge building in Denton at the back  of the Ship and Lobster.  Which compared to what when they were on Tower Hill it really is a bit of downmarket. They have erected the old Shornmead lighthouse in front of the Denton building  -  and very good it looks too.

Now, before we get any further, must  explain that  these lights are run and owned by the Port of London authority.   but usually  ‘The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond, also known as Trinity House, is the official authority for lighthouses in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar.  and run all lighthouses own and maintains most of our other lighthouses’.  They are still in their headquarters on Tower Hill and I’ll return to them in a moment..  For instance the old Shornemead lighthouse down in Denton was designed by Trinity House’s Engineer in Chief Sir Thomas Matthew in 1913.  There is a special arrangement for management of these Thames lights but new designs must be undertaken in consultation with them

You will find writers on the Thames saying that there is only one lighthouse on the river.  Most of   them-ignore these navigational  lights, or are ignorant about them.  What they mean by ‘only one’  is something which looks like a lighthouse but which was used for training.

Go down round the back of the Dome and  look across the River to where the River Lea flows out into the Thames.  there are a whole lot of buildings and you will see right on the edge –yes - there's a lighthouse!  have a look at it 

It is on the site of what was until the 1980s, Trinity Buoy Wharf  where, since 1803 ,Trinity House would take all the buoys and Riverside structures for maintenance and repair. generally it was a maintenance depot and  the lighthouse is part of that . When the depot closed the buoy repair department was taken off to Harwich - and you can go up there and look at all these colourful bits of  Riverside infrastructure.

Today Trinity Buoy Wharf is a 'centre for arts and culture ' https://www.trinitybuoywharf.com

Urban Space Management took over the site in 1998.  It is now 'a creative community of over 750 people', and a base for English National Opera, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, Faraday School, The Big Draw and The King’s Foundation to name a few.  Many new buildings were constructed here in the 19^th century by the then Chief Engineer of Trinity House, James Walker. He built the first of two lighthouses here in 1854. On his death in 1862 he was succeeded by James Douglass. The 'lighthouse ' now on site is the ‘Experimental Lighthouse’ and with its neighbour the Chain and Buoy Store it was built by Douglas in 1864. It  was used  use to test maritime lighting equipment and train lighthouse keepers. The roof space adjoining it housed a workshop for the famous scientist Michael Faraday.

The lighthouse is now home to the 'Long player' a one thousand year long musical composition. It began playing at midnight on the 31st of December 1999, and will continue to play without repetition until the last moment of 2999, at which point it will complete its cycle and begin again.”

There are many very interesting things at Trinity Buoy Wharf and I would very much recommend a visit there.

So – what has all this got to-do with Greenwich industry?  There are of course the obvious links in aiding navigation.  However it all goes back to May 1514, when a Royal Charter was presented to The Master Wardens and Assistants of the Guild Fraternity or Brotherhood of the Most Glorious and Undivided Trinity and of Saint Clement in the Parish of Deptford Strond in the County of Kent,

Trinity House began in Deptford. – with property in what is now part of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It all comes back to here, of course it does.