Hull Trinity House

Trinity House and adjoining offices and houses, Kingston upon Hull

Trinity House is a complex of interconnected buildings of major importance to Hull's maritime heritage and Georgian architecture. The main block dates from 1753, with the Guild House added around 1775 by architect Joseph Page. Adjoining houses were built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, with offices added in 1844. All buildings have undergone late 19th and 20th-century alterations.

The main block is constructed of brick with stucco fronts and ashlar dressings, rising two storeys with a polygonal plan containing two internal courtyards. It features hipped and gabled slate roofs. The street-facing front has eight windows across and seven high, with 12-pane sashes with moulded surrounds and bracketed sills; those on the ground floor have cornices. A plinth, quoins, moulded cornice, coped parapet and three large coped ridge stacks provide definition. The façade is dominated by a projecting centre containing two windows beneath a three-bay pediment bearing an elaborate coat of arms and two reclining allegorical figures, executed by Jeremiah Hargrave. Below this stands a central portal with steps, flanked by two engaged Doric columns carrying an entablature and segmental pediment. The doorcase is moulded stone with keystone, panelled recess and a fielded six-panel door.

The left return, facing Posterngate, displays seven windows on each floor. The rear elevation, overlooking the south courtyard, has a central glazing bar window with round-arched moulded and shouldered surround, flanked by two 12-pane sashes. A central portal below features two Doric columns with cornice and fielded six-panel door in plain surround. To its left is a blank; to the right are two 12-pane sashes. In the left angle stands a curved single-storey corridor with sill band and cornice, containing a tripartite glazing bar sash with cornice and brackets. The south range displays five 12-pane sashes with four similar windows below and a 20th-century glazed door to the right. The north range has six 12-pane sashes on each floor. All windows throughout feature painted brick flat arches.

The Guild House forms the north range and contains the Board Room and Council Chamber. It has a two-storey projecting centre with quoins, flanked by single bays, and features a plinth, overall cornice and blocking course, and a single gable stack. The centre contains two Venetian windows with bracketed sills and plain sashes, with two tripartite glazing bar sashes below. A coat of arms in relief appears between floors. The three-storey side bays have plain sashes above, with smaller three-light sashes featuring keystone lintels. Below are a 12-pane sash to the left and a panelled door with fanlight to the right, both with round-arched surrounds with imposts and keystones. The stucco rear elevation includes a first-floor band, string course and cornice, with the ground floor divided by pilasters. A large central round-headed glazing bar sash is flanked by similar smaller windows, below which are five 15-pane sashes—the three to the right have margin-glazed top lights. Square two-storey windowless projections appear on either side.

The smaller north courtyard contains to the east a two-storey block with four windows, housing the General Office, with a single octagonal side wall stack. Four large nine-pane sashes appear above four larger 12-pane sashes, all with brick flat arches. The west range displays three 12-pane sashes with a six-panel door to the left and three similar sashes to the right. The north range has a gable stack, with a higher block to the left having a blank to its left and two six-pane sashes to the right, and a lower block to the right with two three-light windows. Below is a blank to the left, then two tripartite sashes, then two similar sashes, all with brick flat arches. A two-storey north range containing the reading room has a hipped roof with two octagonal rear wall stacks and a flat-topped octagonal lantern. Four 12-pane sashes appear with two similar sashes below flanked by single panelled doors, all with brick flat arches. In the centre is an inscribed shield removed from the Trinity House almshouses.

Adjoining houses on Posterngate, now used as workshops, have steep pitched slate roofs with three gable and two ridge stacks, and a low coped parapet. Rising three storeys plus garrets, they span eight windows with plain sashes and eight six-pane sashes above. Below are two plain sashes flanked by a handed pair of late 19th-century wooden shop fronts with late 20th-century alterations. Both shop fronts feature pilasters and shaped brackets to fascia cornices. The left opening has a pair of large double doors flanked to the right by a door and overlight; the right shop front has a central single-pane window with overlight flanked by double doors with fanlights. Beyond to the left stands an early 19th-century house of two storeys with a three-window range. It has a painted stucco front with coped parapet, three plain sashes, and below, a large double doorway with glazing bar overlight, alongside a door with overlight and a window above.

The office to the right of the main block dates from 1844. It is two storeys with a three-window range, constructed in ashlar. It features a plinth, dentillated moulded cornice with console brackets, and a gable stack with four octagonal flues. Three stone mullioned cross casements with moulded surrounds sit above a stone doorcase with cornice on consoles and recessed panelled half-glazed double door with eared surround. On either side are cross casements with eared surrounds.

Internally, the main block contains a stone cantilever winder staircase with landing, featuring a wrought-iron balustrade and ramped wooden handrail, created by John Waugh. The first-floor Court Room displays an enriched dentillated cornice and enriched coved ceiling. Walls have raised plaster panels; to the east are two round-arched recesses with Venetian windows featuring Ionic columns and enriched heads. To the west is an apsidal recess with shell ceiling. The south end contains an inlaid marble Classical fireplace flanked by moulded doorcases with enriched friezes and cornices on scroll brackets, by J. Hargrave. The north end has a similar central doorcase.

The Council Chamber features moulded plaster wall panels and cornice with an enriched ceiling containing an oval panel. To the west are three round-arched windows with panelled recesses. The adjoining Museum Room, 19th century, has a dentillated cornice and cross beam ceiling with strapwork. A 19th-century oval Reading Room displays an elaborate cornice and frieze with an enriched ceiling featuring a coved oval dome and lantern in debased Classical style. Four corniced doorcases with chain ornament and curved margin stile doors are present. A marble fireplace occupies the space.

The Chart Room has a coved ceiling with margin-glazed skylight and fitted glass cases, cupboards and drawers. The Canoe Room, below the Board Room, has a moulded cornice and cross beam ceiling, with a late 19th-century Tudor-style stone fireplace. A 20th-century elliptical arch leads to an adjoining ante room with a large segment-headed recess and three doorcases converted to showcases. The adjoining hallway, 19th century, features imitation marble panelling and enriched cornice. The stairwell in similar style has a dentillated cornice and margin-glazed skylight. An oak winder stair has turned lotus-leaf balusters.

Hull Trinity House was founded as a religious guild in 1369 and became a guild solely concerned with seamen and an authority in maritime affairs in 1456. Trinity House has occupied its present site continuously since around 1457.