Bramley-Moore Dock

Dock gates on the Dock Road

Bramley-Moore Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall, connected to Sandon Half Tide Dock to the north and Nelson Dock to the south. It was designed by Jesse Hartley and opened in 1848.

History

The dock was opened on 4 August 1848, as part of Hartley's major northern expansion scheme of that year, and was named after John Bramley-Moore, Chairman of the dock committee. Bramley-Moore was then the most northerly part of the dock system. At the time, access to the River Mersey was from the south, through the new Nelson and Salisbury Docks, opened at the same time.

In 1851, further docks were opened to the north. These included Wellington Half Tide Dock, which gave a new access between Bramley-Moore and the Mersey. Around 1900, this dock and the adjoining Sandon Dock were rebuilt, with the half tide dock now separate as Sandon Half Tide Dock, as it remains today.

Bramley-Moore was primarily a coal dock[1] and so did not require extensive warehousing. This coal included both coal for export and also bunker coal for steamships, brought from the South Lancashire Coalfield. A high-level railway opened in 1857 to assist in bringing coal.[1]

After the decline in coal-fired steamships, the dock was still used to export coal. Following the Miners' Strike and the closure of coal mining in South Lancashire, and most of the UK, demand for the dock disappeared. It closed in 1988.[1]

Hydraulic accumulator tower

Bramley-Moore Dock was also the location of one of Liverpool's brick-built hydraulic accumulator towers. These provided hydraulic power to dock gates etc.

British Empire Dockyards and Ports, 1909

Redevelopment

In 2007, the Peel Group, owners of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company, unveiled the £5.5 billion 'Liverpool Waters' regeneration programme. Bramley-Moore Dock is encompassed in the 150-acre (0.61 km2) site.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Trading Places - a history of Liverpool Docks". Liverpool Museums.
  2. Peel unveil £5.5 billion investment plans, Peel Group, 6 March 2007, retrieved 18 April 2008

External links

Coordinates: 53°25′30″N 3°00′11″W / 53.4250°N 3.0030°W / 53.4250; -3.0030

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