Salthouse Dock
Encyclopedia
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and part of the Port of Liverpool
Port of Liverpool
The Port of Liverpool is the name for the enclosed 7.5 mile 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 river...
. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Canning Dock
Canning Dock
Canning Dock is a dock, on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Salthouse Dock to the south and Canning Half Tide Dock to the west. The Canning Graving Docks are accessed from the dock.-History:The dock was opened in...
to the north, Wapping Dock
Wapping Dock
Wapping Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Salthouse Dock to the north, Queens Dock to the south. Kings Dock was originally located to the west, but has since been filled in.The dock was opened in...
to the south and Albert Dock
Albert Dock
The Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...
to the west.
Designed by Thomas Steers
Thomas Steers
Thomas Steers was thought to have been born in 1672 in Kent and died in 1750. He was England's first major civil engineer and built many canals, the world's first commercial wet dock, the Old Dock at Liverpool, and a theatre...
, it was completed after his death by Henry Berry
Henry Berry
Henry Berry, was Liverpool's second dock engineer succeeding Thomas Steers and being succeeded by Thomas Morris. Berry Street in Liverpool may be named after Berry who lived in a house at the junction with Duke Street, where the White Horse pub stands.He built Salthouse Dock, George's Dock and...
, opening in 1753.
As is indicative of its name, the dock was an important transit terminal for the salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
industry. Liverpool was a base for the refining of rock salt from Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
and its onward transportation. The opening of the Albert Dock in 1846 allowed vessels to be unloaded there, before moving on to the Salthouse Dock for loading.
At one point, John Okill
John Okill
John Okill was a pioneering and successful 18th century shipbuilder from Liverpool, England. Not much is known about his early life, though by the time he was 50 years old, he was a leading citizen of the town, having undertaken the roles of timber merchant and shipbuilder.His yard was on the...
had a shipyard on the south side.
Structural improvements were made to the dock basin in 1842 and 1855.
A stone gable and arch entrance survives at the south east corner of the dock from a warehouse built by Jesse Hartley
Jesse Hartley
Jesse Hartley was Civil Engineer and Superintendent of the Concerns of the Dock Estate in Liverpool, England between 1824 and 1860.-Hartley's career:...
.