Harrington Dock was a dock on the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

and part of the Port of Liverpool. Situated in the southern dock system, it was connected to Toxteth Dock to the north and Herculaneum Dock to the south.

History

The first dock on the site was known as Egerton Dock, named after the

Dukes of Bridgewater Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

, built between 1837-9. The first dock was small, with a -wide entrance, and intended for river and canal boats moving

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...

. In 1839, Jesse Hartley and

his son His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, ...

were employed by a separate private company to design two further small basins on the site, known as Harrington Dock and Harrington Dry Basin. The name of the dock can be traced to the district of Harrington, intended for a planned overflow town for Liverpool which never came to fruition. The district of Harrington, itself, was named in honour of Lady Isabella Stanhope, daughter of

William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington General William Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Harrington (18 December 1719 – 1 April 1779) was a British politician and soldier. The son of William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, he took up a military career and joined the Foot Guards in 1741, and ...

and wife of Charles Molyneux, 1st Earl of Sefton who owned the former

Royal Forest A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the ...

of Toxteth Park. The dock was bought and opened in 1844, although not commercially successful. By 1858, the dock primarily traded with the west coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

. The land was eventually acquired by the Liverpool Dock Trust. Harrington Dock was enlarged by

George Fosbery Lyster George Fosbery Lyster FRSE (1821–1899) succeeded John Hartley as Engineer in Chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. He is usually referred to as G. F. Lyster. Life He was born on 7 September 1821 at Mount Talbot in County Roscommon ...

between 1875-83 and the new Harrington Dock was opened in 1882. A tunnel from the

Garston and Liverpool Railway The Garston and Liverpool Railway line ran from the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway line at Garston Docks to Brunswick railway station, later to central Liverpool. The company was formed on 17 May 1861 and the line opened on 1 June 1864. Garst ...

emerged at the dock, and the second Herculaneum Dock railway station of the Liverpool Overhead Railway was adjacent to the dock from 1896. The dock was further improved in 1898, by widening the entrances and deepening the dock. Harrington Dock was used by the

Elder Dempster Lines Elder Dempster Lines was a UK shipping company that traded from 1932 to 2000, but had its origins in the mid-19th century. Founders Alexander Elder Alexander Elder was born in Glasgow in 1834. He was the son of David Elder, who for many ye ...

and its associated businesses. The dock closed in 1972 and has since been filled in. Most of the dock buildings still exist and are divided into small business units as part of Brunswick Business Park.

References

Sources

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External links

* {{Port of Liverpool docks Liverpool docks Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in Merseyside