Former entrance to the old Trafalgar Dock from the Mersey - geograph

Trafalgar Dock is 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 part ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and part of the

Port of Liverpool The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed Dock (maritime), dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, Merseyside, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Great Float, Birkenhead Docks between ...

. It is situated in the northern dock system in

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

and connected to

Salisbury Dock Salisbury 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 and is connected to Nelson Dock to the north, Trafalgar Dock to the south and inland to Collingw ...

to the north. The sites of two former docks are located in the vicinity; Victoria Dock was located to the south and Clarence Dock to the east.

History

Trafalgar Dock was designed by

Jesse Hartley Jesse Hartley (21 December 1780 – 24 August 1860) was Civil Engineer and Superintendent of the Concerns of the Dock Estate in Liverpool, England between 1824 and 1860. Hartley's career Despite having no experience of dock building, Hartley was ...

, opened in 1836 and named after the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

. During the early 1990s, most of the dock basin was used as a designated

landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...

site. This has left only a section of the northern part of the dock and a narrow channel along the eastern dock wall. What remains of the dock provides access to Clarence Graving Docks. In 2007, work began on a £20 million extension of the

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

, providing a further of navigable waterway. A new -wide channel was excavated through Trafalgar Dock to the northern end of

West Waterloo Dock Waterloo 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 and connected to Princes Half Tide Dock to the south. The site of Victoria Dock is located to the ...

History

References

Sources

Further reading

External links