Herculaneum Dock History    

Active Period - 1767 to 1972

1767

A small tidal basin is on the site that will be Herculaneum Dock. It is used to take copper ore to a local smelting business (smelting is the process where metal is extracted from ore by melting it).

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1840 

Local businessmen plan a wet dock for the site that will become Herculaneum Dock.

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1848 

The Liverpool Dock Committee buys the site that will become Herculaneum Dock. This is to prevent competition. They do not begin to develop it yet.

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1864

Work begins to build Herculaneum Dock. Most Liverpool docks are built onto the shore, but Herculaneum is dug from dry land using explosives. Unexcavated material forms a dam that keeps the water out until the dock is finished. Removed material is dumped out at sea.

Two graving docks are also opened. These are the main reasons for building the dock.

1866

Herculaneum Dock is officially opened. It will be mainly deal in:

• oil
• coal [image, new window]
• ship repair

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1876

A third graving dock opens at Herculaneum Dock.

1873

Herculaneum quay is permitted to deal in petroleum.

1878

A new branch is added to Herculaneum Dock. This improves access to the graving docks.

Short tunnels with heavy doors (casemates) are dug into the sandstone above the dock. They are used for storing petroleum. For safety purposes these are well away from other docks. They are the first specialist facility on the Mersey. Other dangerous materials are also stored there including turpentine, resin and explosives [image, new window].

1881

Parts of Herculaneum Dock are enlarged.

1884

A buoy store is built at Herculaneum Dock to clean and repair buoys, cables, small boats etc.

1890s

Two 25-ton coaling cranes and other equipment arrive at Herculaneum Dock. The coal is for ships' bunkers, for export and for the Board's large steam plant.

1891

Bulk storage opens at Herculaneum Dock. Oil is piped directly from ship to store.

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1902

A fourth graving dock opens at Herculaneum Dock. Dredgers, coasters, steam hoppers, tugs and surveying vessels visit regularly [image, new window].

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1912

A coal strike affects trade at Herculaneum Dock.

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1919

A rail strike affects trade at Herculaneum Dock.

1923

An oil jetty is built at Herculaneum Dock for the growing oil trade.

1926

A coal strike affects trade at Herculaneum Dock that begins to decline.

1927

Oil jetties are built at Herculaneum Dock for the growing oil trade.

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1939

War begins and Herculaneum Dock is in constant use. This is the dock's busiest time ever. Liverpool is the main port for the North Atlantic convoy.

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1950s

The jetties at Herculaneum Dock are still popular with oil tankers. Pipes carry oil from the oil stores to ships, railway wagons (fireless engines) and barges.

1951

A new buoy store is built at Herculaneum Dock to clean and repair buoys, cables, and small boats. A blacksmith and shipwright are also built.

1960s

Herculaneum is losing business. It has been affected by several factors including:

• strikes
• silting of the dock river entrance and oil jetties.
• changes in world trade patterns (the main change was the move to shipping crude oil, which was never imported to Liverpool).
• competition from the Birkenhead side of the river Mersey.

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1972  

Herculaneum Dock closes and is filled shortly after. The oil trade has moved across the river to Tranmere. The casemates are still very cheap to rent so are used to store explosives, radioactive substances and sometimes wine and cotton.

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