This April, the National Maritime Museum opens a small exhibition showcasing centuries of invaluable work by the Corporation of Trinity House to help sailors navigate safely at sea. Coinciding with the five hundred year anniversary of Trinity House, the gallery displays 70 rarely seen objects from Trinity House and the museum’s own collection, telling stories of the heroic and the extraordinary from throughout the organisation’s history as well as looking to its future.
Dangerous waters flow around our coastline, concealing shallow rocks and treacherous sandbanks. London can be particularly difficult to approach by boat with the fast-flowing twists and turns of the Thames Estuary often shrouded in fog and mist. In 1514, Henry VIII granted a charter to a fraternity of London mariners who became the Corporation of Trinity House, charged with improving the safety of navigation on the River Thames. Later in the 16th-century their remit expanded to setting up beacons and seamarks to help ships avoid dangers. Since then, Trinity House has looked after pilotage, buoys, beacons and lightvessels around some of the British coastline and has become the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and the Channel Islands. The work of Trinity House over the last five hundred years has prevented countless shipwrecks and immense loss of life, and its employees have shown great skill, bravery and endurance. While Trinity House’s aims have remained constant its methods of achieving them have changed dramatically as new technology is adopted and developed.
Guiding Lights displays some of the museum’s exceptional collection of objects relating to maritime navigation, presenting stories of human fortitude in the face of the immense power of the sea. The history of Britain’s lighthouses is told through intricate models, dramatic film and the personal effects of lighthouse keepers. Lightvessels, buoys and yachts are illustrated through a selection of rarely-seen, beautiful watercolour sketches by accomplished marine artist William Lionel Wyllie. Tales of personal bravery include that of lighthouse keeper’s daughter and plucky heroine Grace Darling who became famous in the 1830’s for her role in a daring rescue mission of a group of survivors after she spotted the shipwrecked Forfarshire on nearby rocks. The story is told with prints depicting the dramatic rescue and a small carved alabaster statuette of Grace which has never been displayed before.
Guiding Lights is part of the National Maritime Museum’s on-going programme of small exhibitions covering both historic and contemporary issues, providing visitors with an opportunity to engage and reflect on maritime stories in a more intimate setting.
Notes To Editors
Exhibition information for visitors:
Venue: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Dates: 16 April 2014 – 4 January 2016
Opening times: every day, 10.00 – 17.00, late opening on Thursdays
Visitor enquiries: 020 8312 6565 / www.rmg.co.uk
Admission: Free
Royal Museums Greenwich incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the 17th-century Queen’s House and Cutty Sark. Royal Museums Greenwich works to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. This unique collection of attractions, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over 2 million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. For more information visit www.rmg.co.uk.
The Corporation of Trinity House has been concerned with the safety of shipping, risk mitigation and the wellbeing of seafarers since 1514 when they were granted a Royal Charter by Henry VIII. The organisation serves three distinct functions - they are the General Lighthouse Authority (GLA) for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, their remit to provide Aids to Navigation to assist the safe passage of a huge variety of vessels through some of the busiest sea-lanes in the world. They are also a major charitable organisation dedicated to the safety, welfare and training of mariners and are a Deep Sea Pilotage Authority providing expert navigators for ships trading in Northern European waters. For more information visit www.trinityhouse.co.uk.
For further information or images for Guiding Lights, please contact:
Rosie Linton or Sheryl Twigg, Royal Museums Greenwich Press Office
Tel: 020 8312 6789 / 6790 | 07983 512 841 or Email: press@rmg.co.uk
For information on Trinity House, please contact:
Vikki Gilson, Public Relations Manager Trinity House
Tel: 020 7481 6960 or Email: vikki.gilson@thls.org