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Trading Places - a history of Liverpool DocksMersey DocksWe've mainly concentrated on only some of the many Mersey docks as there are too many to cover in depth. You can find out about some of the other docks below. Choose a dock from the list below, or scroll down the page to browse all the docks [image, new window]. Back to the top | Back to main page Albert (1845-1972)Albert Dock was surrounded by a group of fire and theft proof bonded warehouses. The dock itself quickly became too small for large modern ships but the warehouses were still used. The dock is now home to several museums, galleries, shops, bars and hotels. Back to the top | Back to main page Alexandra (1881-present)Before Seaforth was built Alexandra Dock was one of Liverpool's grain terminals. Its large cold store dealt in imported frozen meat. Now it is a scrap metal recycling depot. Back to the top | Back to main page Birkenhead (various 1820 - present)These are docks on the Wirral (west) side of the Mersey. They are Morpeth, Egerton, Wallasey, Alfred, Great Float, Vittoria and Bidston Docks. They have been involved in many trades over the years. They are still involved in oil and UK/Ireland passenger and cargo transport. Back to the top | Back to main page Bramley Moore (1848-1988)Bramley Moore shipped coal from the Lancashire coalfields. A high-level railway opened in 1857 to help move both bunker and cargo coal. Back to the top | Back to main page Brocklebank (1862-present)Canada Half-tide dock was renamed Brocklebank. It has both wet and graving docks. It was home to the Elder Dempster Liners and the Liverpool-Belfast ferry service. Back to the top | Back to main page Brunswick (1832-1975)Brunswick opened for the timber trade but branched out once timber went to Canada Dock. It then became a cargo liner dock dealing with India, East Africa and the West Indies. Brunswick is now part of a marina for pleasure boats. Back to the top | Back to main page Canada (1859 - present)Canada Dock is named after the country from which most of its trade, timber, came. It was based away from the other docks because of the risk of the wood catching fire. It still deals with North America through containers. Back to the top | Back to main page Canning (1737 - 1972)Canning Dock was formed from the entrance to the Old Dock. It was mainly a graving dock, repairing damaged ships, but also dealt in building materials, coastal trading and fishing. The graving docks are now part of Merseyside Maritime Museum. Visiting leisure, sail-training and naval craft often tie up in Canning or Canning Half Tide dock. Back to the top | Back to main page Chester Basin (1795-1928)Chester Basin was an old sailing ferry terminal that was later used as a barge dock. It had no lock gates so dried out at low tide. It was used by 19th century ferries until the landing stages were built. By the 1920s it was home to a motorboat and a small yacht. The site was filled with the material from the Mersey Tunnel works. Back to the top | Back to main page Clarence (1830-1929)Clarence Dock was built for steamers. It was away from the other wooden ship docks as steamers were considered a fire hazard. Hopper barges based there once dumped most of Liverpool's domestic waste at sea. The Dock Board sold the site of Clarence Dock to the local council to become the site of a new power station. The profits were spent on updating other docks, including Clarence half tide and graving dock basins. Back to the top | Back to main page Coburg (1796-1972)Coburg was one of the first docks to be involved in the American mail packet service. As the population grew so did the need for grain, so a new granary was built on the site in 1906. Another was added in 1932. It was also the site of the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company's main maintenance depot until the south docks closed. Back to the top | Back to main page Collingwood (1848)Collingwood was the last dock built just for the coasting trade. After that coasters had to make do with docks abandoned by other trades. It was linked to the Leeds-Liverpool canal, bringing coal and processed cotton to the port for export. It was also the site of a hexagonal (six-sided) clock tower. Back to the top | Back to main page Dukes (1773-1972)Dukes Dock was built privately as the Liverpool dock for the Bridgewater Canal (from Manchester). It became the link between inland and ocean-going traders. Grain, cotton, sugar, spices, tea, herring, molasses and corn were all imported through the dock. Back to the top | Back to main page Garston (1853)The London & North Western Railway Company built Garston Dock as a rival to the Mersey docks. It was mainly used to ship Lancashire coal, especially to Ireland. Railway trucks were lifted and tipped into the ships' holds. It was also used for ship breaking - it dismantled the last two steamers on the Mersey in 1978. Timber and bananas were also imported. Now it is owned by Associated British Ports and deals in timber, steel and containers. Back to the top | Back to main page Georges (1771-1899)A mixture of cargoes passed through Georges Dock . These included fresh fruit from small, fast schooners that was then sold direct to the public. This dock was filled in 1899 and is now the site of the Three Graces (including the Liver Building) on Liverpool's waterfront. Back to the top | Back to main page Gladstone (1913/1927 - present)Gladstone was the first dock built in the 20th century. It had a huge graving dock for Atlantic liners, which is now a wet dock (Gladstone No. 3 branch dock). Back to the top | Back to main page Harrington (1882-1972)Harrington Dock was involved in timber and shipbuilding. It was later a dock for cargo liners, particularly those of the Elder Dempster Line that brought palm oil from West Africa. Now Harrington is filled in and part of Brunswick Business Park. Back to the top | Back to main page Herculaneum (1866-1972)Herculaneum was once the site of a petroleum storage facility using casemates built into the low sandstone cliff surrounding the dock. It was also involved in copper ore and coal, and acted as a terminus for the North Atlantic convoy during the wars. It is now filled in and under development. Back to the top | Back to main page Hornby (1881)Hornby was mainly used by the timber trade, and had a sloping quay. The dock is privately owned today, and has been filled in to provide land for the Powergen coal terminal. Ships, berthing mainly at South Gladstone No 1 dock, import low-sulphur coal for power station. Back to the top | Back to main page Huskisson (1852-present)Huskisson was built to deal in timber but lost this trade to Canada Dock. Changes made it ideal for the North America steamer trade. It was the site of the S. S. Malakand explosion during the Blitz (3rd May 1941) in World War II. 1000 tons of shells and explosives aboard the ship blew up. Back to the top | Back to main page Kings (1785-1972)Kings Dock dealt in tobacco in specialised warehouses. It was rebuilt in 1898 under the Dock Improvement Act and began to import fresh fruit from the Canary Islands, which was stored in quayside sheds. Samples were taken to the Liverpool Fruit Exchange where they were auctioned. Back to the top | Back to main page Langton (1881)Langton was the first dock to be built on the branch dock pattern. Later a new river entrance was fitted. It dealt in general and Mediterranean trade but is now filled in. Back to the top | Back to main page Manchester (1785-1929)Manchester was originally a tidal dock. Over the years it became the depot of the 'flats' of the Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Company and Great Western Railway (although there were no railway lines there). It was also used by barges and ships of the coal and cotton trades. It was filled in 1929 and is now part of the staff car park at the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Back to the top | Back to main page Nelson (1848)Nelson Dock quickly became too small for larger ships. In early 1900s it was mainly used by the coastal trade, and later became involved with the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company, and Coast Liners' container services. Back to the top | Back to main page Old Dock (1715- 1826)The first dock built on the site of the original 'pool' is now known as Old Dock. It was involved in many trades including slavery. It was filled in to build a new customs house. Back to the top | Back to main page Pier Head (1207 - today)The Pier Head is the area around the Liver Building including the floating ferry terminal. It has been home to Isle of Man, Irish and transatlantic ferries. Now the local Mersey Ferries runs a regular service. Back to the top | Back to main page Princes (1821-1981)Princes Dock was once the base of the transatlantic liner trade and the Irish ferry service. It has been redeveloped to form offices, hotels etc. Back to the top | Back to main page Queens (1785-1972)Queens Dock handled imported timber (wooden ships were built on its foreshore). Sloping quays helped unloading. The short-lived Liverpool whaling trade was based there at the end of the 18th century. The dock was rebuilt in around 1905 with branch docks, 2-storey transit sheds etc. Piece goods, coal and salt were also carried to Africa and South America in return for palm oil, cotton, hides and coffee. Back to the top | Back to main page Royal Seaforth Dock (1972-present)Seaforth is a modern container port dealing in grain, timber and oil. It also deals extensively in North American trade. Back to the top | Back to main page Salisbury (1848)Salisbury was a half-tide dock, designed as the entrance for Collingwood, Stanley and Nelson docks. By the 1950s this dock was the Liverpool centre for coastal and barge traffic. Back to the top | Back to main page Salthouse (1753-1972)Salthouse Dock was named after the salt works once on the site. Salt was mined in Cheshire, refined in Liverpool and loaded at Salthouse. Ships left the dock for Australia and New Zealand until around 1880. Back to the top | Back to main page Sandon (1850-present)Sandon Dock was a 10-acre basin with six large graving docks. It had a narrow entrance that made navigation difficult until it was modernised (completed 1901). The new entrance was the biggest in the port. It was particularly involved in the South American trade and passenger liners. Back to the top | Back to main page Stanley (1848-1988)Stanley Dock was home to large bonded warehouses (built in 1855) including the largest brick warehouse in the world that is still standing. This was built in 1901 and used for tobacco storage. It is linked to the Leeds-Liverpool canal for connections with the area around Liverpool. Now it is home to a weekly market and the subject of development plans. Back to the top | Back to main page Toxteth (1888-1972)Toxteth took its name from the local district. It was thought to be from the Viking words 'Toca's straither' meaning 'Toca's landing place'. It was used by liners trading with Africa including the Harrison Line. It is now filled and part of Brunswick Business Park. Back to the top | Back to main page Trafalgar (1836-present)Trafalgar was designed for deep-sea ships but by the 1900s was only used for coastal and canal traffic. Back to the top | Back to main page Victoria (1836-1988)Victoria was built as part of the rapid dock expansion programme. This included transit sheds. The entrance was closed in 1846 as it was thought useless. Back to the top | Back to main page Wapping (1855-1988)Wapping Dock was built to link Georges, Salthouse, Canning, Albert, Dukes, Kings, Queens and Brunswick docks. It dealt with a lot of through traffic from many different places. The warehouses, which were bonded, have now been converted to flats. Back to the top | Back to main page Waterloo (1834-1988)Waterloo Dock was originally the site of an observatory, built on the dock wall to provide accurate time for ships' chronometers. It later dealt in oil seed and grain. It closed in 1988 and the warehouses were converted into flats. Back to the top | Back to main page Wellington (1850)Wellington had a high-level railway. This brought coal from Lancashire and Yorkshire coalfields to the dockside. |
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