Buildings
The Old Low Light
Housing a guiding light for ships entering the Tyne since the eighteenth century, The Old Low Light is a Grade II listed building in North Shields. It later served as an almshouse, a fish warehouse, and a training base for the Deep Sea Fisheries Association.
At a glance
- Though the current building was constructed in 1727, the first ‘Low Light’ at North Shields was established in the early sixteenth century.
- It was built to house a light that would guide ships safely onto the Tyne.
- By 1805, it was no longer in use as changes in the coastline meant that it did not align with its companion, the Old High Light.
- Through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the building had a variety of other uses but became derelict in the 1980s.
- The Trust began restoring it in 1986 and, since 2014, it has been home to a heritage centre, allowing people to learn more about North Shields’ fascinating history.
1986 – Today
Our work
T+WBPT secured a 99 year lease of the building in 1986 and began the first round of restoration work.
This first round of work was funded by Tyne & Wear Development Corporation who also found new tenants in the form of a maritime training agency. The restored building was first used as a training base by the Deep Sea Fisheries Association and then by the Maritime Volunteers who disbanded in 2011.
A second round of restoration was needed in 2012, costing a total of £400,000. £300,000 of this was given to the Trust by the Townscape Heritage Initiative, and the remaining £100,000 came directly from T+WBPT. As well as restoring the building and adding a new staircase, this was a great opportunity to add a lift to improve accessibility, and a viewing terrace to invite visitors to take in the coastal views.
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The brickwork was in a bad state of decay.
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This cracked beam in the second floor of the building shows its poor state prior to restoration.
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Birdcage scaffolding was needed to work on the structure of the building.
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Structural work to the internal walls of the eighteenth century building
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More scaffolding needed for the second restoration.
“The Old Low Light is great, and The Net’s project is a fantastic idea for inviting people into the building to learn about the area.”
Martin Hulse, Trust manager.
1986- Present
History
Coupled with the Old High Light, the Old Low Light was one of a pair of lighthouses that helped ships safely navigate the mouth of the Tyne.
The first versions of the towers were built in 1540 during the reign of Henry VIII and, as this coincided with the dissolving of the monasteries, they were built using stones from Blackfriars Monastery in Newcastle! Henry granted permission to the Guild of the Blessed Trinity, now known as Trinity House, to build the towers and fortify them in case of invasion.
These early lights were in the form of candles made of tallow, the processed fat of sheep and cows.
By 1658, the position of the sandbanks were changing which knocked the lights out of alignment. To adapt to this change, the lighthouses were replaced by large portable wooden structures. Carting about large wooden structures housing naked flames did not prove the best option and, by the 1680s, Newcastle’s Trinity House were fundraising to repair the original stone towers.
Though funds were already needed to address the damage done to the buildings whilst their wooden counterparts were in use, the need for alteration was amplified by neighbourly tensions in the 1720s.
The Low Light (it wasn’t old yet!) had been surrounded by Clifford’s Fort since 1672 as more defences were needed against potential coastal invasions. By 1727, however, a series of arguments between Trinity House and the Governor of Clifford’s Fort lead to the Governor building his new house directly in the path of the Low Light! Both Lights were then altered to be taller, so the Low Light could reach over the governor’s house and the High Light would still align with it.
The ‘light’ within the tower continued to be just three large tallow candles and a copper reflector until 1773 when the candles were replaced by oil lamps.
The lights fell out of alignment again in 1805 and a new pair began to be build in 1807.
Both the Old Lights were converted by Trinity House into almshouses, like Keelmen’s Hospital, to house the poor and elderly. Master mariners made up most of the occupants at first, but the building later housed plumbers, railway porters, and even a ‘china dealer assistant’.
Into the twentieth century, the building was used as a fish warehouse and slowly declined into near dereliction by the Trust in 1988.
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