 The Albert Dock Conservation Area is characterised by the juxtaposition of buildings and water, created by and for their historic working relationship. Of necessity the docks and their structures are set apart from the city and not integrated into the city street pattern. Historically, the Albert Dock complex was separated from the city by a high wall, although a six-lane road now isolates it. The dominant pattern of the area is set by the docks themselves, and streets have been inserted around them.
The impressive views and vistas within or from the Albert Dock Conservation Area, such as the view of the "Three Graces" along Salthouse Quay or the view of the Anglican Cathedral between Warehouses A and E have been achieved incidentally, but nonetheless create a strong maritime character. The removal of quayside warehousing and transit sheds, particularly around Salthouse Dock and Duke's Dock, have completely opened up views of the docks and the Albert Dock buildings. At five storeys plus basement the warehouses overshadow most of the other surrounding buildings and structures. However, as they were all designed with a functional relationship, they work together as an ensemble and the unified design is apparent. Exceptions to this are some of the modern buildings, such as the group on Mann Island and the new apartments under construction opposite the Wapping Warehouse. The loss of much of the inland warehousing and its dense street pattern, coupled with the widening of the Strand/ Wapping has given the Albert Dock complex increased visibility across the city at large. This is a hard-working environment, and green spaces are generally alien and absent. However, some trees have been introduced (along Salthouse Quay and also to soften the car-parking areas onGower Street) and these do not in any way detract from the character of the area. The Albert Dock Warehouses and Dock Opened 1846/7 Grade I Albert Dock Warehouses form the largest group of Grade1 Listed Buildings inEngland. Opened 1846-47, they were the first public general warehouses actually on the Dock Estate, and while some commentators have seen aesthetic merit in their austere sense of proportion, their robust functional character is the result of technological rigour and innovation. At Albert, Jesse Hartley used well-established techniques (massive load-bearing walls) where appropriate, fire-proof floors and sub-division of spaces adapted from textile mill methods where necessary. But where there was no existing solution he introduced new solutions, such as the amazing stressed-skin iron roof he designed for these warehouses.Raising of goods from the quaysides was performed with the first hydraulic cargo-handling installation in the world. Perhaps the most surprising visual feature is the extreme proximity of the iron quayside columns to the edge of the copings, though when allowing for the batter of the wall below, they do in fact comply with the 'middle third rule'. The retaining walls are constructed in Hartley's characteristic "Cyclopean" granite, imported from the Dock Board's own quarry inKirkmabreck,Scotland. The huge coping stones surmounting the dock retaining walls and forming the edge of the quayside are tied together by the use of small square locking stones. The warehouses were for imported goods only, and had an approximate capacity of 250,000 tons. They have been adapted very successfully, partly because Hartley, building at a time of rapid change in the port, deliberately designed for flexibility. Very large numbers of additional windows were possible because they had been allowed for, though not provided, from the start. Similarly it proved possible to cut extra stairwells, lift shafts etc. through the structure without affecting its integrity. The Albert Dock Warehouses were all built in the same materials and to essentially the same design. There is no combustible material in the construction. They are built of five storeys in brick with red sandstone quoins and parapets, and buff sandstone sills and outer plinths. They have iron roof trusses and large iron plates covering the roof. Internally, the floors are supported on iron columns, between which span inverted iron Y-beams, with wrought iron rods and brick barrel vaults. They have recessed yards on the outer sides. On the quayside the ground floor is recessed with cast iron Greek Doric columns, 3.8m in circumference and 4.5m high, except in the extension in the south west corner, where they are in granite. The warehouses all rise from a dock basin wall of finely jointed granite rubble. The warehouses were originally enclosed by a perimeter wall, but that survives on only the west side. The Albert Dock is one of the earliest enclosed docks in the world and is an exceptionally complete and authentic example of its type. They are divided into:-
Warehouse A: at the south end of the east side of the dock, is in commercial use.
Warehouse B: on the south side of the dock, is now in commercial use. Warehouse C: on the west side of the dock, has shops on most of the ground floor with residential use above, and has the Tate Gallery at the north end. Warehouse D: at the east end of the north side of the dock, is occupied by the Merseyside Maritime Museum. Warehouse E: at the north end of the east side of the dock, is in commercial use. Prince Albertin his speech at the opening of the Albert Dock 30th July 1846:
"I have heard of the greatness of Liverpool but the reality far surpasses the expectation." Dock Traffic Office 1846-7 Grade I The Traffic Office, with its unusual cast iron portico, is one of a number of building designs by Hartley in collaboration with the architect Philip Hardwick. The original design was by Hardwick, but Hartley radically changed it by adding a second floor to it shortly after its construction. Both inside (where the 'light well' became an impressive hall) and outside, it was designed to impress and, like others of Hartley's lesser buildings, could be considered part of a 'corporate identity'.
It is built of brick with red sandstone dressings. There are prominent battered chimney stacks with connecting arches. The most remarkable feature is the cast iron Tuscan portico and frieze. The four columns are 3.5m high, have a diameter of 1m at the base, and were cast in two halves and brazed together along their length. The architrave is 11.5m long and was made in a single casting, in the shape of a giant "U". Brazed onto the architrave is an iron cornice and pediment, consisting of seven separate castings. The building suffered prolonged dereliction, including structural damage, before being restored under the aegis of the Merseyside Development Corporation and re-opened as television studios. Hydraulic Pumping Station East of Canning Half-Tide Dock (The Pumphouse Inn) Circa 1870 Grade II Little is known, and nothing survives, of the hydraulic power supply to the warehouses prior to modernisation of the system by G. F. Lyster, Hartley's successor, in the late 1870s. This 1878 pumphouse is in the characteristically elaborate mixture of common brick, pressed brick, sandstone and terra-cotta favoured by Lyster, but probably designed as an 'add-on' to the structure of the building by Arthur Berrington, the long-serving architectural draughtsman in the Dock Yard.
This was an extremely congested part of the Dock Estate, and the site was unwisely chosen, placing a heavy dynamic load within the 'Coulomb prism' of three different retaining walls. As a result, by the time restoration and conversion to a public house was undertaken, severe subsidence had taken place and little more than the outer walls of the engine house could be saved. The Swing Bridge, between Canning Dock and Canning Half Tide Dock (The "RennieBridge")
Circa 1846
Grade II
To the rear of the pumphouse stands the last survivor of the lightweight footbridges, which were essential for anyone who worked in the docks to cross water gaps. It is a double leaf bar-stayed design, built during the modernisation of Canning Half-tide Dock, possibly in 1845. Its association with Rennie is dubious, and it is more likely that it was designed by Hartley. After restoration in 1984 it was open for public use on a few special occasions, but its handrails cannot be made to meet current safety requirements, so it is now a static exhibit.
Swing Bridge over Entrance to Canning Dock (The 'HartleyBridge') Circa 1845 Grade II Ironically, while the 'RennieBridge' was probably designed by Hartley, the 'HartleyBridge' has a definite connection with Rennie. It is a virtually standard design of double leaf swing bridge adopted on many of the dock passages, probably introduced by Ralph Chapman in London, and certainly brought to Liverpool by John Rennie for use at Princes Dock (opened 1821). It works as a pair of cantilevers when swung 'off' or when virtually unladen, but as a three-pin arch when laden. It is the last survivor of its kind.
The Cooperage, Perimeter Wall and Courtyard, Albert Pierhead Circa 1845 Grade II The Albert Dock warehouses were bonded warehouses, designed to receive goods which, in the 1840s, attracted high rates of duty. This made them desirable targets for pilferers and (more particularly) 'paper smugglers' who sought to evade duty by falsifying the nature of goods. The warehouses and some of the ancillary buildings were enclosed within an extra perimeter wall with a very limited number of gates to help control comings and goings. The coopers were needed for opening and re-bunging casks in order that their contents could be sampled by Customs (or prospective purchasers) as well as for repairing any cask, which might start to leak. The two storey building is brick with sandstone stone dressings and has an iron roof structure. It is now part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum. The Pier Master's House or Dock Master's House, Albert Pierhead
Circa 1846
Grade II
This is the only one of a group of four 'Dock residences' at Albert/Canning Pier Head to survive the May Blitz of 1941. Residences such as this were built all over the Dock Estate from 1801 onwards to house essential workers and by1846, there was a total of 40 of them. No other survives. The provision of accommodation was a valuable addition to a man's income, but carried the penalty of making their tenants more available in the middle of the night! The Pier Master's House lay derelict for many years before being restored, on the basis of extensive historical research, for museum use. Adjoining it is a low block housing the Pier Master's Office and a delightful little police hut. The Original Dock Master's Office, Albert Pierhead 1846 Grade II This original dock master's office is a simple single storey building of two bays built of brick with sandstone dressings. There is a short wall and a rusticated stone gate pier to Albert Dock in the south east angle.
Gatepiers to Albert Dock, Albert Pierhead 1846 Grade II The gatepiers to Albert Dock are built of rusticated sandstone and originally formed part of the perimeter security wall around Albert Dock.
The Three Gatemen's or Watchmen's Huts, Canning Entrance 1844 Grade II These little buildings are a tour de force of masonry construction. Hartley's technique of building in random granite (part ashlar, part dressed rubble) was extremely durable, but also cheap and this "Cyclopean" form of construction is an ancient form of masonry, in which the irregular shaped stones, from immense to minute size are assembled with very fine joints and a flat surface. The central hut has a slightly different roof to the other two, having three tiers of stones, and it originally had an urn finial, upon which was a lantern, acting as a small lighthouse. They were built primarily to provide shelter for the men who opened and closed the lock gates, but Hartley took the opportunity to make them symbolic lodges at the entrance to his great dock estate, similar to those found at the entrance to great country estates. The huts are all octagonal in plan with battered sides and have roofs of solid tooled granite. Sea Wall West of Albert Dock Circa 1846 Grade II
Sea Walls South of Canning Island, to Canning Island and North of Canning Island Circa 1844 Grade II These sea walls were all built by Jesse Hartley in "Cyclopean" granite. That to the west of Albert Dock has two sets of stone steps, one at the south end and one half way along Marine Parade. This part of the wall is rounded and corbelled out in a series of curves to provide recesses for the steps. On the sea wall of Canning Island, visible only from a boat shortly after low water, is the inscribed stone marking 'Old Dock Sill', the datum level from which all heights and depths within the docks were measured. The north gate passage was closed in 1937 and sealed with a date stamped concrete wall, but the south passage remains operational and is a vital entrance into the South Docks system. Canning Half-Tide Dock Retaining Walls
1844
Grade II
This dock was built on the approximate location of an earlier tidal passage into Canning Dock and is still essentially a passage, which can be entered or left at half-tide, now giving access to both Albert Dock and Canning Dock. However, the dock is wide enough for moorings along the north and south walls.
Canning Dock
Circa 1737 and 1845
Grade II
Canning Dock was originally constructed around 1737 as a dry, tidal, dock and indeed was then called "The Dry Dock". The north west wall, now part of George's Dock Passage, is believed to have been built then, as part of a pier. It is therefore almost certainly the oldest visible dock retaining wall in the dock system. Although the wall has been damaged in parts and repaired in concrete, substantial parts of it appear to be of the original construction. It is constructed in courses of massive sandstone blocks. The dock tapers in plan from the south to the north and at the very north end is the narrow passage, which originally gave access to George's Dock. Along the west dock wall is a transit shed of around 1932, which replaced a 19th century transit shed, but in the 18th century this area was known as Nova Scotia, a colourful part of Liverpool, crowded with public houses, shops and warehouses. Some of the most famous views of the Pier Head group of buildings are those looking north across Canning Dock.
Canning Graving Docks No. 1 and 2
1756
Grade II
The graving docks were built 1765-8, lengthened in 1813 by John Foster and deepened in 1842 by Jesse Hartley. They were designed for the repair of ships, which needed their hulls scraping and repainting in "dry dock" and could hold as many as three sailing ships each. They have stepped stone sides (altar courses) with granite barrel runs, three to each side. Large boilers, dated 1810, for heating the tar to coat ships' hulls are sited around the quay, together with capstans for moving the ships. Also remaining are hand-operated "gate engines" bearing the name Coalbrookdale Foundry, Liverpool, which must be original equipment, because by the time of the first reconstruction that firm had become Fawcett and Littledale. The graving docks closed in 1965 and are now part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, which keeps the former pilot boat, the Edmund Gardner of 1953 in No. 1 Graving Dock. She could carry up to 30 pilots and was stationed at sea for weeks at a time. She was largely crewed by trainee pilots and was powered by two diesel engines that generated electricity to drive an electric motor. In Graving Dock No. 2 is the three-masted schooner De Wadden, built in Holland in 1917. She was the last commercial sailing ship to trade to the Mersey, usually carrying pitprops for coal mines from Ireland and coal as a return cargo. Usually moored alongside Graving Dock No.2, in Canning Half-Tide Dock is the tug Brocklebank and the Weaver packet Wincham, which are operated on behalf of the museum by the volunteers of the Wincham Preservation Society.
There are many other important maritime relics around the graving docks, including one of the propellers from the Cunard liner Lusitania, sunk in 1915, and a giant dock pumping engine of 1890.
The Pilotage Building 1883 Unlisted The Mersey Approaches were never simple to navigate and an official pilotage system was established under the Liverpool Pilotage Act 1766. During the 1870s a good deal of acrimony arose over the service, which operated in a complex 'arm's length' relationship with the MD&HB. In 1881 the Board obtained powers to take over pilotage entirely, and this building, completed in 1883, was to symbolise the new centralisation - and to accommodate the extra bureaucrats. Like the Pumphouse, it probably originated as a 'concept sketch' by Lyster, with the detail work by Berrington. Together with the former Liverpool & Glasgow Salvage Association Steam Pump Shed, it houses the Museum of Liverpool Life.
The Great Western Railway Warehouse and Office, North of the Canning Graving Docks Circa 1850 and 1890 Unlisted This is an unusual railway warehouse, designed for 'boatage' cargoes brought by the GWR from their extensive premises at Morpeth Dock, Birkenhead to the now-infilled Manchester Dock, for onward delivery by road vehicles in Liverpool. The exact date of its construction is unclear, but it was shortly after a previous building was destroyed by fire in 1890. The adjoining office building is also of unknown, but earlier, date, possibly early 1850s. Pumping Station, Mann Island
1881
Grade II
The Pumping Station was built to service the railway tunnel underneath theMersey. Built of common brick with blue and red brick dressings, it has the restrained classical decoration frequently found on late Victorian utility structures. Salthouse Dock
Circa 1753, 1842 and 1853 Grade II East of Albert Dock is Salthouse Dock (1753) whose name reflects the once considerable importance of the salt industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Coal fromLancashirewas brought toLiverpoolto refine rock salt from Cheshire, and manufactured salt was brought down from Northwich. There was an extensive business community buying, selling and exporting salt to such places as the Isle of Man and (later) Newfoundland for salting fish. After Albert Dock opened, Salthouse Dock was used mainly for loading vessels, which had discharged in Albert. Much of the masonry now visible dates from improvements made in 1842 and 1855, but some of that at the south west corner is original. Salthouse Dock has entrances to Albert Dock , Canning Dock and Wapping Basin. On the south east corner of the quay is a surviving gable of a transit shed, with a wide segmental arched cart entrance, built by Hartley. Duke's Dock 1773 Grade II To the south of Albert is Duke's Dock, built for the Duke of Bridgewater by 1773, with part of the foundations visible of the great grain warehouse built in 1811. It was extended with a half-tide dock in 1841-5, but Duke's Dock was not incorporated into the Liverpool Dock Estate until 1899. Although it seems to have been regarded as a 'strategic' site, no investment was made there and it remained largely unused except for its warehousing. By 1960 virtually all activity on the site had ceased, the buildings were demolished piecemeal between then and 1984, and the river entrance was closed.
The retaining walls of the original part of Duke's Dock are constructed of large blocks of coursed sandstone, but they have been repaired in parts with brick and concrete.
The later half-tide dock is faced in granite. At only six metres or so wide, Duke's Dock is relatively narrow compared to all of the other remaining docks and appears more like a canal than a dock. However, it should not be overlooked as it has the most complete 18th century dock retaining walls in Liverpool.
Wapping Basin 1855 Grade II Wapping Basin, together with Wapping Dock, was built in 1855 by Jesse Hartley in his usual "Cyclopean" granite, principally to connect Salthouse Dock and others to the north with King's Dock and others to the south and Duke's Dock to the west. Wapping Dock was badly damaged in the Blitz of May 1941, and although it has been repaired, it is not listed.
Wapping Warehouse 1856 Grade II* At Wapping there is another block of noble Hartley warehouses similar in principle to those at Albert and Stanley, in brick, iron and slate. It has segmental headed windows with small paned iron casements. The building was originally 232 metres long, had forty bays and was divided into five fireproof sections, but it has been reduced in length following damage suffered in the May Blitz, 1941. Its original length can be gauged from the partially redundant colonnade of iron columns on the quayside. Each section had a hydraulically powered lift and an open two-storey elliptical arch on the quayside, which were all open. The original granite perimeter wall still stands on the east side and incorporates the stumps of the stanchions of the overhead railway. The building has been successfully converted into flats.
Hydraulic Tower at Wapping Dock 1856 Grade II At the south end of Wapping Warehouse stands the restored hydraulic power station, which supplied the power for the warehouse. It is the most southerly of Hartley's "defensive" line of pseudo historic "castles", which guarded Liverpool docks. It has a battered "Cyclopean" granite base, whilst the upper part is octagonal brickwork with rusticated stone quoins. The date 1856 is incised at the top of the east face and it has a battlemented parapet on granite machicolations.
Gatekeeper's Lodge at entrance to Wapping Dock 1856 Grade II This is a particularly fanciful example of a Hartley gatekeeper's shelter, with its battered sides, chamfered plinth, corbelled cornice and short, oval plan, spire. It has a stylised window, entrance gate slot and blind arrow slit motif.
The Site of Old Dock 1715 Unlisted Old Dock was the world's first commercial enclosed wet dock, constructed in 1715 by Thomas Steers, and it enabled the expansion Liverpool as a major seaport. Following the construction of further docks, Old Dock was infilled in 1826 and Liverpool's fourth Custom House, designed by John Foster Jnr. was built on the site 1828-37. That building was demolished following severe bomb damage during World War II and in the 1960s an office block was built on the site and that was demolished in 1999.
The site of Old Dock is currently used as a temporary car park and has no features of architectural or historic interest above ground. However, a recent archaeological evaluation by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit has uncovered well-preserved evidence of the retaining walls of Old Dock. The dock walls consist for the most part of hand-made bricks in English bond, topped with yellow sandstone copings. Remains of the quayside were also encountered, consisting of large sandstone blocks laid directly upon the original silts. Well-preserved timbers were encountered in both the Pool deposits and the deposits within the dock itself. The results of the evaluation suggest that the dock wall survives largely intact, beneath the car park, certainly along the north, south and east sides. |
