London’s only lighthouse, also known as Bow Creek Lighthouse can be found at Trinity Buoy Wharf in East London.
Originally one of two lighthouses, it was built in the 1860s by James Douglass for Trinity House. Trinity House is the General Lighthouse Authority (GLA) for England, Wales and the Channel Islands; providing navigation aids including lighthouses.
The surviving lighthouse was used for lighting trials for Trinity House, as well as training lighthouse keepers. Perhaps most interestingly it was the place where Michael Faraday carried out experiments.
These days Urban Space Holdings use the site as space for arts and the lighthouse is no exception. At the moment it is home to Jem Finer’s sound installation Longplayer. Running since the 31st December 1999, Longplayer is a continuous musical composition that will run until 2999. The lighthouse and the Longplayer are free of charge to visit.
More info: www.trinitybuoywharf.com and longplayer.org
[…] of a lonely pianist visited by a strange presence in the night. The piece was first performed at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London by six professional dancers and 20 dancers-in-training, with live musical accompaniment […]