Beacon House Trinity Buildings Number 1

Beacon House, also known as Trinity Buildings No. 1, is a lighthouse built in 1727 for Trinity House in Newcastle upon Tyne. It has since been converted into almshouses and is now a house. The building features painted render and brick with a Welsh slate roof and a lead-covered lantern. It stands four storeys high and has a square one-bay design, with a later porch and a two-storey left extension added later. The door is located in the extension, which has 20th-century glazing in the windows on each floor. A band runs along the third floor, and there is a ball finial on the ogee-hipped roof of the lantern. An eroded plaque between the first and second floors commemorates the conversion to almshouses following the construction of a new high light in 1807. Historically, in 1536, Henry VIII authorized Trinity House in Newcastle upon Tyne to build two lighthouses at Shields, and by 1807, changes in the riverbed necessitated a new lighthouse to ensure a safe approach. The building is listed mainly for its historical interest.