Herculaneum Dock was 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 ...
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 ...
. It was at the south end of the Liverpool dock system, 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 ...
. To the north it was connected to
Harrington Dock. The dock was named after the
Herculaneum Pottery Company that had previously occupied the site.
History
From 1767, a
tidal basin in the area that would become the dock was used for unloading copper for a smelting works.
Between 1794 and 1841 it was the site of a pottery. In 1864, a new dock designed by
George Fosbery Lyster
George Fosbery Lyster FRSE (1821–1899) succeeded John Hartley as Engineer in Chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. He is usually referred to as G. F. Lyster.
Life
He was born on 7 September 1821 at Mount Talbot in County Roscommon ...
was blasted from the foreshore, providing two
graving dock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
s. This dock opened in 1866.
Ten years later, a third graving dock was added.
Beginning in 1873, the dock handled
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
. In 1878, specialist
casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" ...
s were built to store this and other volatile cargo within the
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
cliffs above. The dock continued in this capacity until the task of oil handling was transferred across the river to
Tranmere Oil Terminal
Tranmere Oil Terminal is situated on the River Mersey, south of Birkenhead. It was opened on 8 June 1960 to handle vessels of up to 65,000 tons, at two berths (North and South). It is connected to the Stanlow Oil Refinery by a crude oil pipeli ...
and
Stanlow Oil Refinery. During 1881 the dock facility was enlarged further and a fourth graving dock was constructed in 1902.
Liverpool remained an important port during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, with Herculaneum Dock acting as a terminus for the
North Atlantic Convoys.
Herculaneum Dock was formerly served by its own station on the
Liverpool Overhead Railway
The Liverpool Overhead Railway (known locally as the Dockers' Umbrella or Ovee) was an overhead railway in Liverpool that operated along the Liverpool Docks and opened in 1893 with lightweight electric multiple units. The railway had a number o ...
. The station (and railway) closed on 30 December 1956. By 1958 demolition of the station had been completed.
Herculaneum Dock closed in 1972,
being filled in during the 1980s to create a car park.
After closure
The area south of the dock contained a tank farm; this was reclaimed for the
Liverpool Garden Festival and residential properties.
In 2004, the site was bought by national property developer David McLean Homes and a riverside residential development, called City Quay, Liverpool was built on the dock.
Since the closing of Herculaneum Dock, what was the main dock area now comprises car parks, a fitness club, a Car dealership and residential buildings. Graving docks 1 2 and 3 are now occupied by residential buildings. Graving Dock no.4 has been restored as a water feature within the residential estate. The map of 1901 shows the entrance to the dock with the letter 'L'. A restaurant has since been built on this.
Images of Herculaneum Dock
Entrance to Herculaneum Dock (geograph 3813081).jpg, The infilled entrance to Herculaneum Dock in 2014
Dkbkpl30.jpg, British Empire Dockyards and Ports, 1909
Herculaneum Dock, Liverpool Art.IWMART2293.jpg, Herculaneum Dock with Dazzle
Dazzle may refer to:
Arts
* ''Dazzle'' (manga), a Japanese manga by Minari Endoh
* "Dazzle" (song), by the English post-punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees
* The Dazzle Dancers, a performance group founded in 1996
* " Dazzle Dazzle", a song by ...
painted merchant ships by Leonard Campbell Taylor
Herculaneum Dock context.jpg, Map showing context of Herculaneum Dock
Herculaneum Dock detail.jpg, Map showing layout of Herculaneum Dock
Herculaneum Dock casemates 2.jpg, View north along the oil casemates, which are Grade II listed
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Site of Herculaneum Dock aerial photo
{{Port of Liverpool docks
Liverpool docks
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Merseyside
History of Liverpool
1866 establishments in England