Bramley-Moore Dock was a 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 ...
, and 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 ...
. The dock is located in the northern dock system in Liverpool's
Vauxhall
Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...
area, and was connected to
Sandon Half Tide Dock to the north and
Nelson Dock to the south.
Jesse Hartley was the architect. The dock opened in 1848.
The dock was infilled with
Everton FC's new home ground,
Everton Stadium
Everton Stadium, currently known as the Hill Dickinson Stadium for Naming rights, sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock in Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall, Liverpool, England. It will be the new hom ...
, being constructed on the dock with a 2025 opening date scheduled. The Club received planning approval for a 52,888 capacity stadium which is set to be opened in time for the start of the 2025/26 football season. The project was cited as one of the reasons for the revocation of Liverpool's
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
status as the
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a former UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England, that comprised six locations in the Liverpool city centre, city centre including the Pier Head, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Albert Dock ...
, with the
World Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee is a committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Her ...
stating that the project was one of the developments which had resulted in a "serious deterioration" of the historic site.
History
The dock was opened on 4 August 1848,
as part of Jesse Hartley's major northern expansion scheme of that year, and was named after and opened by
John Bramley-Moore, chairman of the dock committee at the time.
When built, Bramley-Moore Dock was the most northerly part of the dock system.
At the time, access to 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 ...
was from the south, through the new
Nelson and
Salisbury Docks, which were all commissioned simultaneously. When built, Bramley-Moore Dock was used for the largest steamships of the era.
In 1851, further docks were opened to the north. These included
Wellington Half Tide Dock, which gave a second access point for Bramley-Moore into the Mersey. The berthing of the larger ships was moved to the new
Sandon Dock and
Huskisson Dock within a few years of opening because of the ease of access to the river these docks offered. Around 1900, the Wellington Dock and the adjoining Sandon Dock were realigned, with the
half tide dock separated as
Sandon Half Tide Dock, as it remains today.
Although a mixed-use dock, with one of the original transit sheds still in place, Bramley-Moore did extensive coal trade.
The coal handling included both coal for export and bunker coal for
steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
s in the port, transported from the
South Lancashire Coalfield. A high-level railway opened in 1857 to transport coal directly to the north quay.
The high-level railway was connected by viaduct to the adjacent
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company before the Railways Act 1921, 1923 Grouping. It was Incorporation (business)#Incorporation in the United Kingdom, incorpo ...
line. The high-level railway was operational from 1856 to 1966.
After the decline in coal-fired steamships, the dock continued to export coal. Following the demise of coal mining in South Lancashire, and most of the UK, the export market for coal dissolved with the dock ceasing coal exports in 1988.
Bramley-Moore Dock is the location of one of Liverpool's brick-built
hydraulic accumulator
A hydraulic accumulator is a pressure storage reservoir in which an Incompressible flow, incompressible hydraulic fluid is held under pressure that is applied by an external Prime mover (engine), source of mechanical energy. The external source can ...
towers.
The Grade II listed tower is in severe disrepair with Everton's plans for a new stadium including the commitment to invest in heritage and repair and restore the tower for public use. The tower provided
hydraulic power to dock gates and lifting equipment but is no longer active.
21st century
In 2007, the
Peel Group
The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Greater Manchester, Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes ...
, owners of the
Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, unveiled the £5.5 billion
Liverpool Waters
Liverpool Waters is a large scale £5.5bn development that has been proposed by the Peel Group in the Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The development will make use of a series of derelict dock spaces at Cen ...
regeneration programme. Bramley-Moore Dock is encompassed in the site.
Bramley-Moore Dock is the most northern of the docks within the former
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City
Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City is a former UNESCO designated World Heritage Site in Liverpool, England, that comprised six locations in the Liverpool city centre, city centre including the Pier Head, Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, Albert Dock ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
and the planned Liverpool Waters and the most southerly of the working docks. The hydraulic tower and dock retaining walls are
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
buildings.
Bramley-Moore Dock may have been listed as World Heritage Site but sits behind locked gates, semi-derelict with no access to the public, its heritage assets are decaying and is next door to a waste water treatment plant.
Everton Stadium
In March 2017, an agreement was reached between Liverpool City Council,
Everton F.C. and
Peel Holdings to acquire the dock for a new
football stadium. A planning application was submitted in December 2019, with approval granted by the city council in February 2021 for development of a 52,888 capacity stadium. Everton's plans were stated as delivering a £1.3bn boost to the economy,
create more than 15,000 jobs,
attract more than 1.4m visitors and act as a catalyst for £650m of accelerated regeneration.
At the planning meeting Everton also committed to investing up to £55m
to repair, preserve, restore and open up Bramley-Moore Dock's heritage assets.
In July 2021,
Liverpool Waterfront's
UNESCO World Heritage status was revoked. A report from the
World Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee is a committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization that selects the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the World Heritage List and the List of World Her ...
described the forthcoming Bramley-Moore Dock development, along with the
Liverpool Waters
Liverpool Waters is a large scale £5.5bn development that has been proposed by the Peel Group in the Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The development will make use of a series of derelict dock spaces at Cen ...
project, as having caused an "irreversible loss of attributes".
Ground was broken on the project in August 2021.
A first test event was held in February 2025, and Everton are due to fully move into the stadium in time for the start of the
2025-26 football season.
References
Sources
*
*
*
Further reading
*Bramley-Moore, John (1846) ''Report of the speech of J. Bramley-Moore ... on the subject of dock extension addressed to the Liverpool Town Council ... 19 January 1846''. Liverpool: Council of the Borough of Liverpool
External links
Port of Liverpool Official Website
Map of the locationBramley-Moore Dock aerial photo1851 map of North Liverpool Docks
1881 map of North LiverpoolBramley Moore Dock image gallery
{{Port of Liverpool docks
Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool
Liverpool docks