South Shields, Trinity Towers

HER Number:
17274

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields, Trinity Towers

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Communications

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Watch Tower

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Demolished Building

Description:
Watchtower erected in the 1830s by Trinity House, Newcastle. A castellated building with circular tower. There was a crest bearing the motto 'Deus Dabit Vela' (God will give the sails) and an anchor. The pilots (Purvis, Marshall, Bones) lived on The Lawe, close to the Pilot Stairs. In the late C19 it became the home of the under-gardeners of North Marine Park. From 1950 students from the Marine and Technology College had radar training there. It was demolished around 1970. In the 1970s a stone shrine was unveiled on the site of Trinity Towers.

Easting:
3714

Northing:
6767

Grid Reference:
NZ37146767

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Caroline Barnsley, South Shields Through the Ages; Janis Blower,1990, Pilots lookout tower, Cookson Country in The Gazette, 11 October 1990, p 8; Caroline Barnsley, South Shields - The Postcard Collection; AD Archaeology, 2017, North Marine Park, South Shields, Geophysical Survey and Excavation