I was working next to Princes Dock in Liverpool on 25 June 2013 and took the opportunity to have a look around and take a few photographs during my lunch break..
Princes Dock is interesting as it was the first of the Liverpool docks to be enclosed by a security wall to prevent theft and and also to provide a safe environment for commodities held in bond.
The wall was built between 1816 and 1821 to accommodate sailing vessels running to North America and was built by dock engineer John Foster who was engineer between 1799 and 1824 (b1758 –d1827). Originally the wall ran around all four sides of the dock although only the East side of the wall remains today.
The wall is built of brick with sandstone copings with a monumental gateway.
The gateway has sandstone piers with a pitted edge decoration and decorative cappings. The wall is approximately 210m long, 5.5m high, two brick lengths thick and is constructed in English Bond.
The gates ain the photograph are 20th century additions.
Princes Dock is interesting as it was the first of the Liverpool docks to be enclosed by a security wall to prevent theft and and also to provide a safe environment for commodities held in bond.
The wall was built between 1816 and 1821 to accommodate sailing vessels running to North America and was built by dock engineer John Foster who was engineer between 1799 and 1824 (b1758 –d1827). Originally the wall ran around all four sides of the dock although only the East side of the wall remains today.
The wall is built of brick with sandstone copings with a monumental gateway.
The gateway has sandstone piers with a pitted edge decoration and decorative cappings. The wall is approximately 210m long, 5.5m high, two brick lengths thick and is constructed in English Bond.
The gates ain the photograph are 20th century additions.
Dock police huts were added to this section of wall in the late 19th Century to provide 24hr surveillance. As seen in the photographs above these took the form of lean-to brick structures built against the inner face of the original 1816-1821 wall.
The Liverpool Overhead Railway opened in 1893 ran along the inside of the dock walls supported by cast iron columns. One of the columns can be seen cut into the original wall in the photograph above, the line was closed in 1956 and demolished in 1957, the columns being left in place and cut off level with the top of the wall.
The Liverpool Overhead Railway opened in 1893 ran along the inside of the dock walls supported by cast iron columns. One of the columns can be seen cut into the original wall in the photograph above, the line was closed in 1956 and demolished in 1957, the columns being left in place and cut off level with the top of the wall.
Princes dock boundary wall as viewed from the outside.
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