This report follows on from a previous one about the Liverpool central docks (https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/central-docks-liverpool-2018.116392) and covers a small patch of wasteland at the southern end, shown by the dotted ellipse below.
It doesn’t look like much when you walk through - a few old lock gates, a couple of capstans and some bollards.
But on closer inspection there are many rusted metal covers which may be hiding interesting hydraulic things - dock machinery was mostly operated by pressurised water in those days.
The trouble is that the area is very open and overlooked so you can’t really head in and start lifting lids.
However last month I noticed diggers and spoil heaps on the outer wall - it seems redevelopment had started so I went for a wander.
But first some potted history to introduce this particular stretch of dockland.
Princes Dock (1821) was the first large purpose-built dock on the Mersey and was soon connected to Waterloo Dock to the north (1834) by a tidal basin.
Tidal basins dry out at low tide, so in 1868 it was rebuilt as a half-tide dock by G.F. Lyster, who succeeded J. Hartley (Hartley was the most famous of the Liverpool dock engineers, and built Waterloo and most of the other docks further north).
As the name suggests, the gates in a half-tide dock are opened when the tide is about half way up, letting ships in.
When the gates are closed the boats are now in a watery vestibule and can queue for births in neighbouring docks, see 1893 map below.
However as ships became larger the entrances and depth of the half-tide dock became a problem and in 1949 a new lock was built through the outer wall of the Waterloo Dock,
blocking up the old half-tide entrances (1951 map), and adding a new sea wall across the front to berth against.
Waterloo dock closed to shipping in 1988 and the lock was later filled in.
A couple of old photos showing the Waterloo lock and half-tide entrances when they were still in use.
The development now underway is a new terminal for the Isle of Man ferry, which currently has a temporary shed near the Liver Building about 500 yards to the south.
The scheme below was taken from the planning application (18L/3232) - it involves filling in a few areas of water (green) and turning the rest into a carpark plus terminal building.
This is what it’s going to look like.
Lock gates. Starting at the filled-in lock, there used to be two pairs of iron lock gates left.
One has probably been covered over (too many workers in that area to check) but from the planning application it looks like the other may be retained under the access ramp for cars.
This sort of lock gate is hollow with compartments designed to flood but may also contains ballast sections to make it neutrally buoyant and hence easy to open.
This is in contrast to the older sort of solid wooden gates, which were made out of a heavy hardwood (greenheart).
There are still quite a few scattered around the dock estate, and their construction was apparently a local speciality.
The one shown below is destined to be lost under the carpark.
Gate machines. The half-tide entrance was built in the same style as Hartley’s Salisbury half-tide entrance (the one with the Victoria Clock Tower).
But whereas the Salisbury entrance had a narrow lock for small vessels on one side, Lyster’s version had it going through the middle creating two ‘islands’.
Each half of a lock gate was controlled by two ‘gate machines’ - one to open it and one to close it, so there were a lot machines (28) buried in the dock surface.
Chain lines have been added for a pair of gates in the plan below to illustrate how the system worked.
The machines were hydraulic - the engine is inside rectangular bit at the top in the plans below - but with provision for manual operation if necessary.
Even though some of these have probably been lost over the years, there were still plenty of candidates to inspect since the most of the machine pits had been opened.
However practically all the gate machine pits were empty…
…or contained only scraps.
At least this one had a drum - the bits on the right are a manual adaptor and hydraulic engine crankshaft from a gate machine which workers seem to have salvaged.
The best preserved gate machine on the docks is still the one outside the Clarence Dock pump house further north.
Capstans. The original plans.
Pictures of the two remaining capstans before and after the cover plates were removed. Some of the workings are still there but the hydraulic engines have gone.
Culverts and sluice gates. Water was let in or out through a series of deeply buried culverts, controlled by sluice gates or cloughs as shown below for one of the islands.
When the half-tide entrances were blocked in 1949 these the culverts were extended through the new wall.
I may be wrong about this, but these channels probably also had a role in the controlling the build up of silt, an important factor in dock design.
The remains of a hand-operated sluice with a hydraulic one just behind - I think this pair has now been filled in.
Plan of a hand-operated sluice showing how the hexagonal top pieces were rotated using inserted spikes.
One of the entirely hydraulic sluice gates (made by The Hydraulic Engineering Company, Chester) and another one which has defeated the diggers.
A double sluice which is plumbed for hydraulic power although all the mechanisms have gone.
A couple more sluice shafts with variable amounts of machinery.
Tunnels. Hydraulic machinery was connected to pressurised water pipes running through tunnels about a foot under the surface of the dock.
A couple of the tunnels in the newer concrete outer wall, with a view from below of a hydraulic sluice - for scale, these tunnels are only about 4 ft high.
The outer wall is actually mostly hollow, as shown in one of the plans above, with watery voids connected to the sea. No ladders down so nothing really explorable here.
I assume it was built like this as a cheap way of making an unstressed sea wall.
The tunnels in the older section are sandstone and brick and provide routes into machine pits which still have their lids on.
Yet another sluice - there was a pressure pipe going in, so the fixings on the right wall may have been for an engine.
The hydraulic pipes and other services dive down deep wells to cross under the half-tide water passages.
Finally a couple of other features. On the right the stanchion of a hand cranked crane which is shown on an 1891 map - it can just be seen in some early photos.
On the left a flight of Hartley’s characteristic angled stone steps in the corner of the Waterloo dock basin. This is in one of the areas due to be filled in, so these will disappear.
Overall there wasn’t as much to find as I’d hoped, but still worth recording I think.
I’m assuming the parts of the original dock not covered by the new terminal will probably be cleaned up with the lids put back on the holes, which may be enough to satisfy the heritage people.
It doesn’t look like much when you walk through - a few old lock gates, a couple of capstans and some bollards.
But on closer inspection there are many rusted metal covers which may be hiding interesting hydraulic things - dock machinery was mostly operated by pressurised water in those days.
The trouble is that the area is very open and overlooked so you can’t really head in and start lifting lids.
However last month I noticed diggers and spoil heaps on the outer wall - it seems redevelopment had started so I went for a wander.
But first some potted history to introduce this particular stretch of dockland.
Princes Dock (1821) was the first large purpose-built dock on the Mersey and was soon connected to Waterloo Dock to the north (1834) by a tidal basin.
Tidal basins dry out at low tide, so in 1868 it was rebuilt as a half-tide dock by G.F. Lyster, who succeeded J. Hartley (Hartley was the most famous of the Liverpool dock engineers, and built Waterloo and most of the other docks further north).
As the name suggests, the gates in a half-tide dock are opened when the tide is about half way up, letting ships in.
When the gates are closed the boats are now in a watery vestibule and can queue for births in neighbouring docks, see 1893 map below.
However as ships became larger the entrances and depth of the half-tide dock became a problem and in 1949 a new lock was built through the outer wall of the Waterloo Dock,
blocking up the old half-tide entrances (1951 map), and adding a new sea wall across the front to berth against.
Waterloo dock closed to shipping in 1988 and the lock was later filled in.
A couple of old photos showing the Waterloo lock and half-tide entrances when they were still in use.
The development now underway is a new terminal for the Isle of Man ferry, which currently has a temporary shed near the Liver Building about 500 yards to the south.
The scheme below was taken from the planning application (18L/3232) - it involves filling in a few areas of water (green) and turning the rest into a carpark plus terminal building.
This is what it’s going to look like.
Lock gates. Starting at the filled-in lock, there used to be two pairs of iron lock gates left.
One has probably been covered over (too many workers in that area to check) but from the planning application it looks like the other may be retained under the access ramp for cars.
This sort of lock gate is hollow with compartments designed to flood but may also contains ballast sections to make it neutrally buoyant and hence easy to open.
This is in contrast to the older sort of solid wooden gates, which were made out of a heavy hardwood (greenheart).
There are still quite a few scattered around the dock estate, and their construction was apparently a local speciality.
The one shown below is destined to be lost under the carpark.
Gate machines. The half-tide entrance was built in the same style as Hartley’s Salisbury half-tide entrance (the one with the Victoria Clock Tower).
But whereas the Salisbury entrance had a narrow lock for small vessels on one side, Lyster’s version had it going through the middle creating two ‘islands’.
Each half of a lock gate was controlled by two ‘gate machines’ - one to open it and one to close it, so there were a lot machines (28) buried in the dock surface.
Chain lines have been added for a pair of gates in the plan below to illustrate how the system worked.
The machines were hydraulic - the engine is inside rectangular bit at the top in the plans below - but with provision for manual operation if necessary.
Even though some of these have probably been lost over the years, there were still plenty of candidates to inspect since the most of the machine pits had been opened.
However practically all the gate machine pits were empty…
…or contained only scraps.
At least this one had a drum - the bits on the right are a manual adaptor and hydraulic engine crankshaft from a gate machine which workers seem to have salvaged.
The best preserved gate machine on the docks is still the one outside the Clarence Dock pump house further north.
Capstans. The original plans.
Pictures of the two remaining capstans before and after the cover plates were removed. Some of the workings are still there but the hydraulic engines have gone.
Culverts and sluice gates. Water was let in or out through a series of deeply buried culverts, controlled by sluice gates or cloughs as shown below for one of the islands.
When the half-tide entrances were blocked in 1949 these the culverts were extended through the new wall.
I may be wrong about this, but these channels probably also had a role in the controlling the build up of silt, an important factor in dock design.
The remains of a hand-operated sluice with a hydraulic one just behind - I think this pair has now been filled in.
Plan of a hand-operated sluice showing how the hexagonal top pieces were rotated using inserted spikes.
One of the entirely hydraulic sluice gates (made by The Hydraulic Engineering Company, Chester) and another one which has defeated the diggers.
A double sluice which is plumbed for hydraulic power although all the mechanisms have gone.
A couple more sluice shafts with variable amounts of machinery.
Tunnels. Hydraulic machinery was connected to pressurised water pipes running through tunnels about a foot under the surface of the dock.
A couple of the tunnels in the newer concrete outer wall, with a view from below of a hydraulic sluice - for scale, these tunnels are only about 4 ft high.
The outer wall is actually mostly hollow, as shown in one of the plans above, with watery voids connected to the sea. No ladders down so nothing really explorable here.
I assume it was built like this as a cheap way of making an unstressed sea wall.
The tunnels in the older section are sandstone and brick and provide routes into machine pits which still have their lids on.
Yet another sluice - there was a pressure pipe going in, so the fixings on the right wall may have been for an engine.
The hydraulic pipes and other services dive down deep wells to cross under the half-tide water passages.
Finally a couple of other features. On the right the stanchion of a hand cranked crane which is shown on an 1891 map - it can just be seen in some early photos.
On the left a flight of Hartley’s characteristic angled stone steps in the corner of the Waterloo dock basin. This is in one of the areas due to be filled in, so these will disappear.
Overall there wasn’t as much to find as I’d hoped, but still worth recording I think.
I’m assuming the parts of the original dock not covered by the new terminal will probably be cleaned up with the lids put back on the holes, which may be enough to satisfy the heritage people.
