Old Dock

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The Old Dock, originally known as Thomas Steer's dock, was the world's first commercial wet dock.[1] It was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool, England, starting in 1709 and completed in 1715, by enlarging a previous natural tidal creek which was the "Pool" that Liverpool was named after: see Pool of Liverpool. Thomas Steers was the engineer responsible addition advise was obtained from George Sorocold.

[edit] History

Opening on 31 August 1715,[2] Old Dock could accommodate up to 100 ships. Originally a tidal basin accessed directly from the river,[1] from 1737 access was via Canning Dock. The dock was built with one graving dock; a second and third graving dock where added in 1746 and the 1750s.

The dock wall were constructed from brick laid directly on to sandstone bedrock. The dock gates would have allowed as much as 10% of the water out between high tides, resulting in a drop of several feet. This may have been offset by water entering the dock from a stream.[3].

Though there was slave trade in Liverpool before the dock opened, it would have served ships involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade and it led to Liverpool's establishment as the leading European slave port.

In the early 1800s, the dock was considered too small for the growing size of shipping using the port; the quays were too narrow; the city's sewage polluted the dock's water; and the narrow wooden drawbridge across its entrance channel caused traffic jams.[1] Sentiment saved the Old Dock for 20 years, but the Old Dock closed on 31 August 1826[2] and was filled in. Liverpool’s fourth Custom House, designed by John Foster, was built on the site between 1828 and 1837, and was demolished after severe bomb damage during World War II.[4]

[edit] Redevelopment

In 1999, an office block on the site, Steers House, was demolished, and the resulting waste ground was used as an NCP car park until 2004, when the site was incorporated into the Paradise Project. A water feature is set to be built on the site of Old Dock to commemorate its history. A portion of the dock wall is exposed in the basement of the new development.

[edit] Media

The excavation of the dock featured a Channel 4 Time Team special at 9 to 10 pm on Monday 21 April 2008.

[edit] Old Dock Sill

The level of the sill of its entrance is used in and around Liverpool as a height datum called Old Dock Sill or ODS.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Trading Places: Old Dock History. Liverpool Museums. Retrieved on 24 March 2008.
  2. ^ a b 'Liverpool: The docks', A History of the County of Lancaster: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 41-43. British History Online. Retrieved on 24 March 2008.
  3. ^ Pictures from Channels 4's Time Team sepecial
  4. ^ Customs House. Liverpool John Moores University. Retrieved on 8 January 2008.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Port of Liverpool docks
North docks
South docks
See also Port of Liverpool