Trinity Buoy Wharf, Blackwall
Trinity Buoy Wharf is tucked into the end of a small peninsula at the point where the River Lea flows into the Thames, and for many years this was an isolated and forgotten part of London. Until 1988, this was where Trinity House built and maintained the buys and lightships that were used to aid navigation around the Kent, Essex and Suffolk coasts.
Trinity House was originally a voluntary organisation of shipmen and mariners, and was granted a Charter in 1514 by King Henry VIII, becoming "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undividable Trinity of St Clement". It gained its Coat of Arms in 1573, and with it the authority to erect beacons and other markers to aid navigation around the coasts of England; these evolved into the buoys, lightships and lighthouses for which Trinity House is still responsible around the United Kingdom.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was established in 1803 for the construction of wooden sea buoys, and over the years has adapted and expanded with the development of cast iron buoys in the 1860s. An experimental lighthouse was built in 1864 to test equipment and train lighthouse keepers; it still stands today.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was closed in December 1988 and acquired by the London Docklands Development Corporation, who decided to turn it into a centre for creative enterprises. In 1996 a long lease was granted to Urban Space Management, a company with a track record of regenerating former industrial locations.
Trinity Buoy Wharf, Blackwall
Trinity Buoy Wharf is tucked into the end of a small peninsula at the point where the River Lea flows into the Thames, and for many years this was an isolated and forgotten part of London. Until 1988, this was where Trinity House built and maintained the buys and lightships that were used to aid navigation around the Kent, Essex and Suffolk coasts.
Trinity House was originally a voluntary organisation of shipmen and mariners, and was granted a Charter in 1514 by King Henry VIII, becoming "The Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undividable Trinity of St Clement". It gained its Coat of Arms in 1573, and with it the authority to erect beacons and other markers to aid navigation around the coasts of England; these evolved into the buoys, lightships and lighthouses for which Trinity House is still responsible around the United Kingdom.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was established in 1803 for the construction of wooden sea buoys, and over the years has adapted and expanded with the development of cast iron buoys in the 1860s. An experimental lighthouse was built in 1864 to test equipment and train lighthouse keepers; it still stands today.
Trinity Buoy Wharf was closed in December 1988 and acquired by the London Docklands Development Corporation, who decided to turn it into a centre for creative enterprises. In 1996 a long lease was granted to Urban Space Management, a company with a track record of regenerating former industrial locations.