We are enabled, after many experiments, to present our readers with a
plan of the Liverpool Docks, executed by a new process--namely, by a
union of lines cut upon wood, and of moveable type. The completion of
our wishes, in this respect, will enable us to illustrate any subject of
geography or topography, by maps and plans, executed with more precision
than we could have attained by any other means. We subjoin to this plan
a short account of these extraordinary public works, which the growing
commerce of Liverpool has created:--
The town of Liverpool was originally a small fishing-village, till Henry
the Second, in 1172, first used its port as a station for the
embarkation of troops to Ireland. This circumstance, with the gradually
increasing commerce consequent on the connection ever since maintained
between the two countries, and the excellence of its port, doubtlessly
laid the foundation of its present magnitude and prosperity. Yet its
growth for a long period was slow, and even at times seemed to
retrograde. In 1571 the inhabitants of the “poor decayed town of
Liverpool” petitioned Queen Elizabeth to be relieved from a subsidy
imposed on them; and in 1630, while Bristol was assessed at 1,000_l._
for ship-money by Charles I., Liverpool was rated at only 26_l._
[Illustration: Map of the Liverpool docks, showing the old docks and
the planned new docks]
The first great increase which took place in the importance of Liverpool
appears to have been shortly after the commencement of the war with
France in 1778, in the first year of which one hundred and twenty
privateers, manned by eight thousand seven hundred and fifty seamen,
issued from this port. Since that period its increase has been constant
and wonderfully rapid. The population, which in 1801 was 77,653, in 1831
amounted to 165,175. In the year ending June, 1830, the number of
vessels, entered inwards and outwards, amounted to 11,214, of which the
tonnage was 1,411,964, and the customs duties 3,123,758_l._ 8_s._ 10_d_.
To provide facilities for this immense traffic great exertions have been
made, and vast expense incurred, in the construction of docks and the
erection of warehouses. The plan we have given shows their position; and
the following account, extracted from Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary
of England, a valuable work recently completed in four quarto volumes,
affords such information as may render the plan perfectly
intelligible:--
For the security of the shipping in the port, and for the greater
facility of loading and unloading merchandize, an immense range of docks
and warehouses, extending nearly two miles along the eastern bank of the
river (the Mersey), has been constructed on a scale of unparalleled
magnificence, and forming one of those characteristics of commercial
greatness in which this town is unrivalled. The docks are of three
kinds, the wet docks, the dry docks, and the graving docks; the wet
docks are chiefly for ships of great burden employed in the foreign
trade, and which float in them at all states of the tide, the water
being retained by gates; the dry docks, so called because they are left
dry when the tide is out, are chiefly appropriated to coasting vessels;
and the graving docks, which admit or exclude the water at pleasure, are
adapted to the repair of ships, during which they are kept dry, and when
completed are floated out by admitting the tide. The Old Dock, which was
the first of the kind constructed in England, and for making which, an
act of parliament was obtained in 1708, is not now in use, its site
having been appropriated to the erection of a new custom-house, and
other offices connected with the trade of the port. The Dry Dock, which
is about to be converted into a wet dock, was constructed under the
authority of an act passed in the 11th of George II., and is chiefly
occupied by sloops from the north coast, which import corn, provisions,
and slate, and convey back the produce of the West Indies, the
Mediterranean, Portugal, and Baltic: it has a quay five hundred yards in
length, and has communication with three graving docks; it has been
considerably enlarged, and many of the buildings surrounding it have
been taken down with the view of obtaining more quay room. The Salthouse
Dock, so named from some salt-works formerly contiguous to it, was
constructed about the same time as the Dry Dock; the upper part of it is
chiefly for ships that are laid up, and the lower part for vessels in
the Levant, Irish, and coasting trades; the quay is seven hundred and
fifty-nine yards in extent, and is provided with convenient warehouses,
with arcades for foot-passengers on the east side, and extensive sheds
on the west side; between this dock and the river are some
ship-builders’ yards, which the corporation intend to convert into docks
for the craft employed in the inland trade. George’s Dock was
constructed in the 2d of George III., at an expense of 21,000_l._; it
was originally two hundred and forty-six yards in length, and one
hundred yards in breadth, with a quay of seven hundred yards in extent;
but it has been enlarged, and the quay is now one thousand and one yards
in length: on the east side is a range of extensive warehouses, in front
of which is an arcade for foot-passengers: and on the west side are
sheds for protecting the merchandize from the weather: at the north and
south ends of the dock are handsome cast-iron bridges; and a parade is
continued westward for a considerable distance into the river: this dock
has a communication with the two preceding docks, and also with the
Prince’s Dock, by basins, which preclude the necessity of returning into
the river. The King’s Dock, constructed in the 25th of George III., is
two hundred and seventy yards in length, and ninety-six in breadth, and
is appropriated to vessels from Virginia and other parts, laden with
tobacco, which article is exclusively landed here: the new tobacco
warehouses extend the whole length of the quay, on the west side, and
are five hundred and seventy-five feet in length, and two hundred and
thirty-nine in depth; the old warehouses on the opposite side, which
were appropriated to that purpose, have been converted into sheds for
the security of merchandize: ships from the Baltic, freighted with
timber and naval stores, discharge their cargoes on the quay; across the
entrance is a handsome swivel bridge of cast-iron: this dock has a
communication on the south with a dry dock and two graving docks. The
Queen’s Dock, constructed at the same time, is four hundred and seventy
yards long, and two hundred and twenty-seven and a half in breadth, with
a spacious quay, and is chiefly occupied by vessels freighted with
timber, and by those employed in the Dutch and Baltic trades; at the
south end it communicates with a basin of considerable extent, called
the Brunswick Half-Tide Dock, which is also connected with the Brunswick
Dry Basin. On the south of the half-tide dock, a new dock of larger
dimensions than any of the preceding, for vessels laden with timber, is
in progress, to be called the Brunswick Dock, with a basin to the south
of it, and patent slips for the repairing of vessels, which will
probably terminate the range of docks at the southern extremity. The
Prince’s Dock, constructed under an act passed in the 51st of George
III., was opened with great pomp on the day of the coronation of his
late Majesty, George IV.; it is five hundred yards in length, and one
hundred and six in breadth; at the north end is a spacious basin,
belonging to it, and at the south end it communicates with the basin of
George’s Dock. The quays are spacious, and there are sheds for the
protection of goods from the weather: along the west side, near the
river, is a beautiful marine parade, seven hundred and fifty yards long,
and eleven wide, defended by a stone parapet wall, from which is a
delightful view of the river and the shipping; at convenient intervals
are three flights of steps leading down to the river, where boats are in
constant attendance. To the north of the basin belonging to this dock,
four spacious wet docks, and a large graving dock, which latter is to be
fitted up with patent slips, are at present in a state of rapid
progress; and, when completed, will probably terminate the range of
docks on the north side of the town. The Duke’s Dock, between Salthouse
and the King’s Dock, is a small dock belonging to the trustees of the
late Duke of Bridgewater, for the use of his flats, with commodious
warehouses. The several carriers by water have also convenient basins on
the river, for the use of their barges, with quays for loading and
unloading their goods; and the Mersey and Irwell navigation company have
a small dock, called the Manchester Dock, for the flats employed in that
extensive trade, and for the transport to this town of the productions
of Cheshire, and the adjoining counties. The whole range of the docks,
when the northern and southern additions are completed, will be two
miles and eight hundred and twenty yards in length. Spacious as they are
they are still considered inadequate to the increasing commerce of the
port, and measures are in contemplation for their further extension. The
sums expended in the formation of these docks amount to more than two
millions sterling; for clearing them from the accumulation of silt
brought in by the tide, a dredging-machine, worked by a steam-engine of
ten-horse power, is in constant operation, by which fifty tons per hour
are raised into barges, and deposited where it may be washed away by the
current of the river.
To this we are enabled to add, from an official paper, the following
table, showing the area of water and the quantity of quay-space of these
splendid docks:--
| Area of water in | Quay-Space in
| Square Yards. | Lineal Yards.
DRY BASINS. | |
| |
Prince’s Basin | 20,909 | 509
Seacombe Basin | 1,805 | 188
George’s Basin | 16,372 | 455
George’s Ferry Basin | 1,344 | 160
Old Dock Gut | 7,737 | 447
Queen’s Basin | 24,391 | 601
Brunswick Basin | 23,622 | 572
South Ferry Basin | 2,927 | 205
| |
WET DOCKS. | |
| |
Prince’s Dock, with its two locks | 57,129 | 1613
George’s Dock, with its two passages | 26,793½ | 1001
Dry Dock as altered | 19,095 | 500
Salthouse Dock, with its passage | 23,025 | 759
King’s Dock, with its passage | 37,776 | 875
Queen’s Dock, with its two passages | 51,501½ | 1255
Half-tide Dock, with its passage | 13,185½ | 497
| |
NEW NORTH WORKS. | |
| |
No. 1 Dock, with No. 1 Lock, and | |
half of passage | 30,764½ | 1012
No. 2 Dock, with Entrance-Lock, | |
and half of two passages | 29,085½ | 839
No. 3 Dock, with No. 2 Lock, and | |
half of passage | 33,642½ | 1050
No. 4 Dock, with its Lock | 29,313 | 914
Half-tide Basin | 17,605 | 586
| |
NEW SOUTH DOCKS. | |
| |
Brunswick Dock, with its passage | 60,824 | 1092
Half-tide Basin | 9,245 | 483
| ───────── | ──────
This forms a total of dock-room of one hundred and eleven acres; and the
quay-space extends to the length of eight miles, within a few yards. The
whole length of the river-wall is two miles, eight hundred and twenty
yards, exclusive of the openings.
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