Conspicuous on the north side of Trinity Square are the dignified columned portico and pyramidal tower of the vast new offices of the PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY, designed by Sir Edwin Cooper (1922). The domed rotunda in the interior (100 feet in diameter, 67 feet high) claims to be the largest hall in existence without supporting girders. Trinity House, adjacent, was erected in 1793-95 from the designs of Samuel Wyatt for the 'Guild, Fraternity or Brotherhood of the most Glorious and Undivided Trinity,' the first charter of which was granted by Henry VIII. in 1514, largely at the instance of Sir Thomas Spert. The corporation consists of a Master (at present the Duke of Connaught), a Deputy Master, Wardens, Assistants, and Elder Brethren, twenty-two in all, besides a large number of Younger Brethren, and its object is the safety of navigation, more especially the control of sea-marks and the licensing of pilots, and the relief of poor mariners. The building (for admission apply to the secretary) contains a collection of models of ancient and modern lighthouses, lightships, and buoys, and of old men-of-war; naval relics and curiosities; busts of famous admirals; a large painting of the members of the board in 1794, by Gainsborough Dupont; portraits of royalties and former masters (by Kneller, Van Dyck, Reynolds, Watts, Herkomer, and others); and a library of books on navigation.
