![]() By 1805 the lights were no longer aligned with river channel and Newcastle Trinity House began building a new pair of lights in 1807. The Low Light was repaired and remodelled in 1733 and again in 1775 when the second floor was added. Copper reflectors were added in 1736, and in 1773 the candles were replaced by oil lamps. ![]() Initially, the 1727 High and Low Lights were each lit by three tallow candles. ![]() Old High and Low Lights The Old Low Light viewed from the south It seems likely that this is what prompted the rebuilding of both lights in 1727. ![]() These came to a head in 1726 when a new Governor's House was built on the site, which obscured the light. A postern in the fort wall provided access to the lighthouse however, in the years that followed a number of disputes arose between Trinity House and the Governor of the Fort. In 1672 the Low Light found itself enclosed by Clifford's Fort, constructed that year to help defend the Tyne from coastal attack. To try to address this, the lighthouses were replaced in 1658 by moveable wooden structures these proved unreliable, however, and in the 1680s Newcastle's Trinity House was seeking funds to repair the stone towers. The changing position of sandbanks in the mouth of the river meant that the lights had likewise to change position from time to time. The towers were increased in height at around this time they are depicted on Ralph Gardner's map of 1655, still with their battlements (they were built with a defensive as well as a navigational purpose in mind). In 1608 a further ordinance was issued by James I requiring Newcastle's Trinity House to maintain a pair of lighthouses at North Shields. To fund the provision and maintenance of these lights the Guild was empowered to levy dues on every ship entering the port (initially 2 d per English vessel and 4d per foreign vessel). A keeper was paid 20 shillings a year to keep a tallow candle alight in each tower every night for a certain number of hours either side of high tide. Work began on the towers the following year: they were built on high and low ground either side of Pow burn, which flows into the Tyne at 'the Narrows' (the narrowest point of the river mouth). The granting of the charter coincided with Henry's policy of dissolving England's monasteries and in 1539 he gave the monastic church of the town's Blackfriars monastery to the Guild, which used its stonework to build the two towers. In 1536, a charter of Henry VIII gave permission to the Guild of the Blessed Trinity (which is known today as Trinity House of Newcastle) to build and embattle a pair of towers on the north bank of the River Tyne to serve as leading lights for safe navigation at the mouth of the river. Earliest lights Site of the Black Friars' church: its stones were used to build the first pair of navigation lights at North Shields. By following a course which kept the two lights aligned, pilots were able to navigate along the Tyne, avoiding the dangerous Shields Bar and the Black Middens. The first lighthouses were erected here in the 16th century by the Guild of the Blessed Trinity of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. They were sometimes known as the Fish Quay High and Low Lights, or (more precisely in terms of their individual locations) as ' Fish Quay (Range front)' and ' Dockwray Square (Range rear)'. Two pairs of lights survive: the older pair date from 1727 and were operational until 1810 the newer pair then took over, remaining in use until 1999. The High and Low Lights of North Shields are decommissioned leading lights in North Shields, Tyne and Wear in the United Kingdom. Newcastle-upon-Tyne Trinity House (–1990s), Port of Tyne Square tower with small lantern on the roof attached to a building
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