The Duke's Dock was built in 1773 as a coastal terminus for the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, and at one time was one of the oldest surviving docks in Britain. Although the dock itself is very small by modern standards, its history is fascinating in relation to the development and operation of canals in the North West. The Bridgewater Canal is sometimes described as England’s first canal and is named after its owner, Francis Egerton the third Duke of Bridgewater who built the Canal to transport coal from his mines at Worsley to the industrial areas of Manchester. Considered to be the forerunner of canal networks, the Duke had the foresight to anticipate the need for dock and warehouse facilities in Liverpool long before the canal had reached Runcorn. In November 1765 he personally took up, and paid for, a possession lease on a piece of land south of the Salthouse Dock from the Rev. R. Barnston, but he did not authorise the construction of a dock there for several years. Opening in 1773, and probably designed by James Brindley, who also built the Bridgewater Canal, Thomas Wallwork was the Superintendent of the building of Duke's Dock which was completed in 1773. Between 1780-1783 the Duke built a multi-storey warehouse here which was similar in design to the Warehouse he had built at his Castlefield terminus in Manchester shortly after 1765. This warehouse was probably the first multi- storey dock warehouse to be built in the Port of Liverpool. By 1790 the Duke still had not been granted permission to extend his dock and his patience was wearing thin. There may have been political reasons why some Liverpool merchants were unwilling to see his premises and his influence in Liverpool extended, but eventually in 1792 more land was acquired for the dock extension due to growth of the cotton industry. In 1811, a large six-storey warehouse was also built on the southern side of the dock for the storage of grain, and barges were able to enter the warehouse from the dock with two bargeholes in the base of the warehouse providing covered wharfage. By the 1820s there began the challenge to the canals from the railway and before too long the dock was in decay, but before it was allowed to reach that state it must have been an impressive sight.
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| The long narrow basin with Duke's Grain Warehouse in the background |
A small half-tide dock was constructed between Duke's Dock and the river in 1845 and, at the opposite end of the dock, Wapping Basin was added in 1855. There was a problem though, stemming from the fact that steamers were being introduced, and docks were being constructed to accommodate them towards the mouth of the Mersey in the north, quite some distance from Duke's Dock. Empty barges had to sail from Duke's Dock to one of the new docks to load, which was obviously time-consuming and inefficient. The alternative was to have goods brought to Duke's Dock by cart which was very expensive and again inefficient. Over-crowding was also a problem at the Duke's Dock, because much of the goods for transhipment had to be stored there for some time. During June 1857, four months after the death of the Earl of Ellesmere, a series of legal transactions relating to the Duke's Dock took place and on the 9th of June the Duke's Dock property was transferred from the Earl of Ellesmere (the beneficiary) to Liverpool Corporation. By the late 1890s the Duke's Dock was being used to import and tranship a variety of goods including cotton, flour, linseed oil, potatoes, cotton seed oil, cotton cake, vegetables, sugar, grain and animal feedstuffs. The dock was undoubtedly busy and much of the warehousing and shed space was occupied by private carriers like Ross J. Smyth & Company (corn merchants), E.H. Darby & Company (corn merchants) H. Bath & Sons (metal brokers) J. Gordon (timber merchant), Hartley & Kaye (stone merchants), Price's Patent Candle Company Limited and C.T. Faulkner (barge owner and carrier). The dock was purchased by the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1900 and during the Second World War some of the property was requisitioned by the Admiralty and several buildings were bomb damaged.
Following WW11, the dock was used as a mooring for private yachts and other small craft as trade continued to decline, but the warehouses remained until 1960. The dock had a southern branch which was filled in 1967, and warehouses were removed from the north and south quaysides, where now stands the Liverpool M&S Arena and the Conference and Convention Centre. The dock was closed to shipping in 1972 after two centuries of handling (canal) barge traffic. The canal, which is still operational, though almost entirely for pleasure craft, has become a linear park for leisure activities, supported partly by the Ship Canal Company, and partly by District Councils along its route. This new lease of life would have proved a considerable source of satisfaction to the man whose determination made it all possible, and who personally purchased that dock which is his main memorial in Liverpool.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/11/remembering-liverpool-structures-bibby.html
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