Canning Half Tide Dock on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it h ...

, in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, is a

half tide dock A half tide dock is a partially tidal dock. Typically the dock is entered at high tide. As the tide ebbs a sill or weir prevents the level dropping below a certain point, meaning that the ships in the dock remain afloat, although they still rise an ...

and is part of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of ...

. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Canning Dock to the east and Albert Dock to the south.

History

The dock was originally the site of the Gut, the entrance to the Dry Dock which was later to become Canning Dock. Canning Half Tide Dock was built by

Jesse Hartley Jesse Hartley (21 December 1780 – 24 August 1860) was an English Civil Engineer and Superintendent of the Concerns of the Dock Estate in Liverpool, England between 1824 and 1860. Hartley's career Despite having no experience building docks, ...

between 1842 and 1844, also opening in 1844. Originally having two

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

entrances to the Mersey, the north gates were sealed with a concrete dam in 1937. The south gates are modified to accommodate a valve to admit river water. To the outside of the river entrances are two

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

octagonal gatemen's shelters, also designed by Hartley. An island built of

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

, which has its own lighthouse, separates the river entrances. Adjacent to the dock is the Pilotage Building, which opened in 1883 to manage the river's

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

boats. The building was converted in 1980 by the

Building Design Partnership Building Design Partnership Ltd, doing business as BDP, is a firm of architects and engineers employing over 900 staff in the United Kingdom and internationally. History BDP was founded in 1961 by George Grenfell-Baines with architects Bill Whit ...

for use as a museum. Both this building and the dock itself are now part of

Merseyside Maritime Museum The Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater M ...

References

Sources

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External links

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Canning Half Tide Dock aerial photo
{{Port of Liverpool docks Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Liverpool docks

History

References

Sources

Further reading

External links