to decommission Royal Sovereign End of serviceable life

Trinity House London* has begun preparatory work on a project to decommission Royal Sovereign Lighthouse** (, South coast of , 50°43′24″N 0°26′08″E). It is the intention that the now-deteriorating lighthouse will be completely removed clear to the seabed. This has necessitated that Lighthouse be upgraded to ensure the safety of the mariner in those waters. Trinity House aims to commence work in 2020.

Royal Sovereign Lighthouse was built in 1971 with a design life of 50 years. Having monitored the fabric of the lighthouse over the last decade and observing the expected signs of deterioration, Trinity House concluded that the ongoing safety of the mariner requires that the structure be fully decommissioned.

Royal Sovereign Lighthouse has provided nearly 50 years of reliable service as an aid to , one of over 600 that Trinity House operates for the benefit and safety of the mariner.

In anticipation of its intention to remove Royal Sovereign Lighthouse, Trinity House upgraded ; it will also increase the capability of the offshore CS2 and will retain the nearby Royal Sovereign buoy. The upgrade to Beachy Head Lighthouse has increased the number of solar panels around the base of its gallery and installed a longer-range LED light source; the CS2 lighted buoy will also benefit from an increase in range.

The upgrade to Beachy Head Lighthouse will come as good news to mariners and the local community alike. Once Trinity House decommissions Royal Sovereign Lighthouse as proposed, Beachy Head Lighthouse’s future is secured as the principal aid to navigation in the area.

Royal Sovereign Lighthouse was brought into operation at noon on 6 September 1971. With a farewell blast from the lighthouse’s fog signal, Trinity House Vessel Winston Churchill towed away the last of the series of light vessels which had marked the Royal Sovereign station since 1875.

Trinity House’s Deputy Master Captain Ian McNaught said: ‘It is never an easy decision to discontinue and even remove such a prominent aid to navigation, but our first priority will always be the safety of the mariner. Now that Royal Sovereign Lighthouse has reached the end of its serviceable life, it is time for us to take steps to ensure that the lighthouse itself does not become a hazard. There will be a lot of work involved for our engineers and our various other

1 teams and we will be working extensively in collaboration with a number of organisations to ensure the success of this project.’

About Trinity House London Trinity House is a charity dedicated to safeguarding shipping and seafarers, providing education, support and welfare to the seafaring community with a statutory duty as a General Lighthouse Authority to deliver a reliable, efficient and cost-effective aids to navigation service for the benefit and safety of all mariners.

The Corporation of Trinity House was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1514 to regulate pilotage on the and provide for aged mariners.

With a mandate that has expanded considerably since then, it is today one of the UK’s largest-endowed maritime charities, the General Lighthouse Authority for England, , the Channel Islands and Gibraltar and also a fraternity of men and women selected from across the nation’s maritime sector.

Its long-standing familiarity with the channels, hazards, currents and markings of its coastline also qualifies it to inspect and audit over 11,000 local aids to navigation, license Deep Sea Pilots and provide Nautical Assessors to the Admiralty Court.

Per annum the Trinity House Maritime Charity donates around £5m to the charities it supports. These include the provision of cadet training schemes, welfare provision for retired mariners and educational programmes teaching safety at sea skills.

*The General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar with HQ in the City of London and principal operating base at on the East Coast.

**Built 1971, height of tower 36 m. Height of light above Mean High Water 28 m. Of concrete construction built in two sections on the beach at Newhaven. The base and vertical pillar section were floated into position and sunk on to a levelled area of the seabed. The upper cabin section and superstructure were then floated over the pillar section. The pillar had an inner telescopic section which, when attached to the cabin, was jacked up 13 metres and locked into position.

The cabin section contained accommodation for the keepers who manned the lighthouse before its automation in 1994. The flat upper deck of the cabin section provides a helicopter landing platform. The lighthouse tower, with the control room, fog signal room and lantern is located at one corner of the main deck with direct access to the cabin section below.

Automation of Royal Sovereign Lighthouse was completed in August 1994. The lighthouse is now monitored and controlled from Trinity House’s Planning Centre in Harwich, Essex.

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