Here numerous ships security may gain
From raging tempests and the blustering main.
For want of a more extensive area of shelter, and deeper water, great
destruction of shipping has occurred on the rocks outside the Holyhead
Old Harbour by vessels endeavouring to reach the Pier; hence the
necessity of an outer harbour, sufficiently spacious to admit a
man-of-war at all times. This necessity had for many years been deeply
impressed upon the minds of gentlemen of talent and experience. The many
fearful wrecks in the bay tended to produce a conviction that no money,
within a reasonable limit, should be spared for effecting a spacious and
complete harbour. It is an admitted fact that the aspect of entrance to
the present harbour, together with its inefficiency in size, have been
the sole cause of most of the shipwrecks in the bay. The following
melancholy record will serve to shew that it was high time some effort
should be made to save life and property.
Dec. 18th, 1790.—On the north point of Salt Island the _Charlemont_
packet, on her passage from Parkgate to Dublin, was lost, when 110 souls
perished, owing to the want of a sufficient draught in the Old Harbour.
Feb. 5th, 1824.—The _John_, from Cork to Liverpool, was driven on the
rocks at Penrhos, in this bay—13 lives lost. She came under the lee of
the Light-house in the entrance of the harbour, but, owing to its aspect,
could not come into it, consequently was blown off.
Nov. 24th, 1826.—The _Marquis of Wellington_, from Liverpool to Buenos
Ayres, drove on shore out of the Old Harbour upon Brynglas Rocks—16 lost.
This vessel was from 2 o’clock, p.m., until 5 30, p.m., at the entrance
of the Harbour. The captain had actually written to Liverpool that
evening, and sent the letter on shore with the boatman, informing his
owner and friends of his safe arrival at Holyhead; before 12 o’clock all
had perished!
Jan. 14th, 1827.—The _Panthia_, N. Y. packet, bound for Liverpool, was
driven into the bay by the violence of the gale, and in attempting to
make the harbour, went on shore about 300 yards to the eastward of the
South-pier-head. Ship broken up.
April 28th, 1829.—The _Harlequin_, from Palermo to Liverpool, drifted on
the rocks at Turkey Shore, at the entrance of the harbour, and became a
total wreck.
April 28th, 1829.—The _Fame_, from Barbadoes to Liverpool, drifted on the
rocks at Turkey Shore, at the entrance of the harbour, south side.
April 28, 1829, the “Fitia,” from Rotterdam to Liverpool, drifted from
the pier to Pen Manarch, Penrhos Point, and was much damaged. The
captain’s wife was drowned. This vessel approached so near to the north
pier that a pound weight could have been thrown on her deck;
notwithstanding owing to the aspect of the harbour, shipwreck was the
consequence. To this affecting catalogue a long and fearful list might
be added, shewing that a vast amount of life and property has been
lost—lost for ever. But sufficient has been recorded to prove that the
New Harbour, which is now stretching out her welcome wings across the
beautiful Bay of Holyhead, was a _desideratum_.
Holyhead is formed by Nature to become a great trading community. The
bay presents a fine spacious opening, one half sheltered by eternal
rocks, and on each side of its entrance, are brilliant lights to guide
the mariner. It is, moreover, centrally situated in St. George’s
Channel, in the tract of all its trade; and presents the only station
from the Land’s End to the Clyde, on the east side of the channel,
(except Milford,) to which vessels can approach when the tide has
considerably ebbed. No wonder then, that the various commissioners
appointed by Government, consisting of some of the most eminent naval and
civil engineers, should select it as the best place on the coast for an
asylum harbour, and a packet station.
Several plans were proposed for the New Harbour by different eminent
engineers. The first plan proposed was by the late noble spirited and
indefatigably enterprising, Captain H. Evans, Holyhead Harbour Master;
but it enclosed too small an area, and too wide an entrance. J. Walker,
Esq., C.E., to the Admiralty, proposed a plan which was to enclose an
area of 90 acres, and 3,300 feet of breakwater, and 2,500 feet of pier,
at an expense of £400,000. Captain Beechy, R.N., proposed to enclose 176
acres, with 4,500 feet of breakwater, and 3,500 feet of pier, at an
expense of £500,000; and J. M. Rendall, Esq., C.E., of Westminster, (the
constructor of the Docks at Birkenhead, Great Grimsby, and Leith,)
proposed a splendid design, on a very large scale, and adopted by the
Government. It consists of a breakwater of 5,100 feet from Soldier’s
Point eastward, to terminate at the Platter’s Buoy; and a pier of 2,100
feet from _Ynys Halen_, (Salt Island,) with its head resting on the
outward Platter, enclosing an area of 316 acres,—three quarters of a mile
long, and in seven fathoms of water,—making one of the most splendid
refuge harbours and packet stations in the universe; the estimate cost of
which is £700,000.
The Contractors for this gigantic project are Messrs J. and C. Rigby,
London. G. C. Dobson, Esq., C.E., is the Resident Engineer; G. F.
Lyster, Esq., C.E., Assistant Engineer; Mr. J. Radford, General Manager;
and Mr. R. Cousins, Engineer for the Contractors. The works were
commenced in January, 1848; and they have been going on since then as
rapidly as it was possible to proceed. Twelve months were occupied in
laying down rails to the quarries, erecting stages, and making other
necessary preparations for the works; since which, an average of 1,300
men have been employed on the works. The broad gauge has been used for
the railway, by which means the contractors, are enabled to bring larger
pieces of stone than the narrow gauge could accommodate. There are two
quarries used, one called Moelfry Quarry, from which limestone is
produced, and the other is, in fact, the Holyhead Mountain, from the
sides of which the materials for the works are taken. A railway is
formed from the extensive quarry on the side of the mountain to the
Soldier’s Point, and Salt Island. Wooden staging is run out into the
sea; strong long balks or piles are fixed in a vertical position in the
water, resting on the base; these are secured with beams placed
longitudinally so as to form a base for the construction of the railway.
The top of the staging is considerably above high-water mark. The depth
of the sea at low water, on the line of the breakwater, varies from 20 to
40 feet; the tide rising, on an average, to a further height of 17 feet
in spring, and 7 feet in neaps. Along the top of the staging are
railways capable of sustaining the weight of a locomotive engine and a
number of waggons loaded. In the erection of these stages the utmost
care has been evinced by the contractors and engineers to prevent
accident; in order to obtain this object, no expense has been spared; the
machinery and staging being of the best and strongest description. The
work may be described as consisting of two breakwaters, one to the north,
(Soldier’s Point,) and the other to east, (Salt Island.) The quarries
are contiguous to the works, and here a great number of the workmen are
employed; they are, perhaps, the most extensive in the country, and it is
not an hypothesis to say that in no quarries extant is work of such
magnitude and rapidity carried on. Holyhead Mountain, which affords the
source of supply, consists of schistus quartz of so hard a nature that
the tools of the workmen will scarcely touch it, and its edges will cut
glass. The quarrying begun with the foot of the mountain slope, and it
has progressed into the mountain until an elevation of 130 feet
perpendicular has been attained. The scene at the quarries exhibits one
of the most active pictures of industry, from the width of the workings,
and the number of labourers employed.
The huge mountain, towering from 700 to 800 feet above the level of the
sea, expanding its full breast, and showing its fine broad forehead, and
which, comparatively speaking, had slumbered for centuries, is at length
disturbed from its long repose, by “physical force.” A visit to this
scene of industry, which literally swarms with men and horses, is no
small treat. Tramways are laid in every direction, along which waggons
roll to the point where they are required. Locomotive engines of unique
design and requirements are continually at work, pouring their dense
smoke into the air, passing along with amazing velocity to the terminus
of the stage,—
Quick moves the balanced beam, of giant birth,
Wields his large limbs, and nodding shakes the earth.
The clang of the hammer of the blacksmith—the whirl of the wheel of the
grinding mill—the jerking of the punching machine, perforating thick
sheet iron, as easily as a lady would put her needle through
pasteboard—the buz in the engineers’ compartment—the pendulum-like tick,
tick, tick, of the strikers pursuing their monotonous vocations—the
enormous cranes, with their pullies, hooks, and ponderous weights
attached, demonstrating the laws of gravitation—the miners, deep buried
in the bowels of the mountain, the sound of whose strokes, forcibly
reminds one of the fairies of by-gone days—the signal-flags floating in
the breeze, and announcing in telegraphic language, “to all whom it may
concern,” that it is high time to take care of “number one”—the blasting,
which is on a most magnificent scale, report after report, making one
almost feel as if we were in the vicinity of an embattled plain, and
last, though not least, the strong, sleek, well-fed horses, prancing in
their furbished harness—all, all are before you and around you. Nor are
the workmen less striking and peculiar—the ease with which the most
unwieldy hammers are heaved by them attest their prodigious strength and
profound skill—some may be seen, high in the quarry, suspended by ropes,
reminding one of the bye-gone practice of egg-taking from the high cliffs
of the promontory, pushing down the rocks, loosened by the terrible
blasting, shouting to each other as if they gloried in their elevated
position—the engine drivers guiding their iron horses along the stages,
while the sea roars 60 feet beneath them, meeting each other on the up
and down lines, with all the pleasantry of stage-coach men of olden time;
fear is not in their vocabulary; though the yawning gulf is beneath them,
they sing, and smile, and whistle, as they sweep along the trembling
stage, as if seated in their respective cottages, with their playful
wives beside them, and their merry children round them.
But to return—to cut into so hard a rock the contractors have to adopt
the process of blasting, which is carried on upon a magnitude which has
never been equalled. To penetrate the rocks sets of workmen, in twos,
are employed in different parts of the face of the mountain, and these
men drive a heading or gallery into the solid rock, about five feet high
and three wide, for a distance of 30 to 40 feet, which is accomplished
chiefly by blasting. In the extremity of this gallery, which runs first
horizontally, and is then sunk perpendicularly, the powder is placed in a
wood-case or bag, and the hole being tamped or filled up with clay, it is
fired by the galvanic battery. The charges vary from one to five tons of
gunpowder, according to the face of the rock to be acted upon; and the
quantities thrown down varies from six to thirty thousand tons in an
explosion. One of these “headings” or “shots” as they are called, went
off this day (Dec. 7, 1852). Sir Richard Bulkeley, Bart., the Rev. J.
Williams, M. Errington Stanley, Esq., and G. F. Lyster, Esq., were
present on the occasion, and took their station on a bridge to witness
the “shot;” but on seeing the stones roll through the air, they deemed it
prudent to act upon the well known maxim, “retreat is the better part of
valour,” and instantly left their elevated position, and placed
themselves beneath the abutment of the bridge. The writer, who was
present, was a little amused to see such a fine illustration of the first
law of nature—SELF PRESERVATION. As a proof of the fearful extent of
these explosions, I would just observe, that although the bridge on which
the aforesaid gentlemen stood was about 800 yards from the quarry, a
stone fell within a few yards of it. The effect of these blastings on
the rock are sometimes of a curious character, but generally speaking the
rock when thrown down leaves the surface of the cliff smooth and
perpendicular. The stones thrown out are generally large, many of them
weighing twenty tons. Shafts are also sunk from 30 to 40 feet deep. The
quantity of stone taken from the quarries is accurately weighed, and
already about two million tons have been buried in the sea. During the
past year the average deposit has amounted to 3,500 tons per day, and
supposing that there have been 250 full working days, this would give a
deposit for the year of 875,000 tons.
The mode of operation is as follows. The rough breakwater is formed by
rubble-stones, brought from the mountain in waggons peculiarly
constructed for the express purpose (the design of which, I understand,
was furnished by the resident engineer, and proves the versatility of his
genius), and dropped perpendicularly through the staging into the sea,
and is then left to be dealt with by the sea, which arranges the deposit
in a manner best suited to form a consolidated mass; and it is calculated
that, when a sufficient portion of the mountain has been dropped into the
sea, there will be formed a breakwater which will have an average base of
from 400 to 500 feet, and this will gradually slope upwards to about 50
feet on the summit of the breakwater on which the stone pier will be
built. But after all the sea is the great workman. We find the
materials, and it makes the foundation; or as the celebrated French
engineer, Monsieur Cachin, observes, “If man be strong enough to heap
together rocks in the midst of the ocean, the action of the sea alone can
dispose them in the manner most likely to ensure their stability.” This
is now most effectually carried out by this new means of depositing
stones. When a heavy sea comes on, it breaks over the ridges of
rubble-rocks, which are interspersed amongst the timber of the staging,
and gradually lowers them, carrying away ridge after ridge, until that
which was far above the water is completely submerged; and the sea acting
upon these stones gradually solidifies the mass, which binds itself into
the clayey bottom of the harbour, and the whole becomes tenaciously
cemented to the ground. And this process will go on until the deposit
shall have formed a place sufficiently inclined to sustain the breaking
of the sea without removal.
The slopes, it is understood, will be faced with dressed stone to a
certain extent, similar to the fine specimen of beautiful workmanship,
which has been executed for about 100 yards, at the seaward side of
“Soldier’s Point.”
The present effective staff consists of eight locomotive engines, running
on five lines of railway on the breakwater; a fixed engine for grinding,
fifty horses, and 1,300 men; and the stores embrace all things requisite
for conducting the work in a self-supporting manner. This mass of mind
and matter is able every day to accomplish a removal into the sea of
4,000 tons weight of the mountain, and so the work proceeds.
The works are being carried on by the spirited contractors with the
utmost expedition compatible with good workmanship. The present extent
of the north breakwater is 3,700 feet, which leaves about 1,400 feet to
be constructed. The east pier extends 1,000 feet, which is about half
its intended length. {51} Attention has also been directed to the
permanent wall of the great breakwater on the harbour side, with a view
to find quay accommodation for vessels to discharge, and for steamers to
take in coals. About 800 feet of this walling is now being levelled for
the quay, on which cranes, &c., are to be placed immediately, and a
connection may ultimately be made with the railway.
When the work will be ended is a wide question. It is said the
Contractors are under an engagement to finish their work by the close of
1855. The works are certainly progressing satisfactorily, and on the
part of the Contractors there is a desire to urge them forward as rapidly
as it is possible to proceed. It is a work which all desire to see
accomplished and in use at as early a moment as the works can be safely
and scientifically completed.
The public mind exults in these vast undertakings, “vain man would”
now-a-days not only “be wise,” but he would be _powerful_, and he
delights, not merely in soliciting the aid of Nature, but in “attacking”
it. When the whole undertaking is completed, protected by batteries, and
ornamented with light-houses, observatories, and telegraphs, and adorned
with promenades, and a Sailors’ Chapel, it will present a very
interesting illustration of the success with which intellect and
perseverance and enterprise have been crowned; and will be indicative not
only of the wealth of the nation, but a proof of the mental over the
physical world, worthy of Britain in the nineteenth century.
The words of the immortal Shakespeare, put into the mouth of one of his
heroines, may, with a slight alteration, be applied to the New Harbour:—
— This same blessed (Milford) Holyhead, and, by the way
Tell me how Wales was made so happy as
To inherit such a haven.
For certain purposes, such as shelter, the harbour will become
progressively available. Great benefit has been derived from the works,
even in their present imperfect state. Hundreds of vessels have already
taken shelter under the breakwater; the writer has counted as many as
forty vessels at one time anchored in the Harbour; and the time is not
far distant, when the spacious and beautiful haven will afford a refuge
to ships of all sizes. When the foaming surges rave, and the billows
roar—when the storm-cloud broods, and the thunder-storms crash—when
hurricane howls music, on the wild wide sea, and the big waves roll the
chorus; when the shattered vessel is driven the mock of ocean, and the
sport of winds, her tars will anchor here, and, safely moored, will tell
their wonders over.—
Safe from the wind and tide
The mighty vessels will triumphant ride.
The works may be seen by visitors, subject to certain regulations, by
seeking a pass at the Engineer’s Office, near the works, in the obtaining
of which there is no difficulty.