Victoria Tower is a Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Gothic Revival clock tower located alongside

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 ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

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 ...

. Positioned among the two river entrance gates to the Salisbury Dock itself, the tower acted as an aid to ships by providing both an accurate time and also warning of impending meteorological changes.

History

Victoria Tower 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 ...

and was constructed between 1847 and 1848, to commemorate the opening of Salisbury Dock. Its design was based upon an earlier drawing by

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

in 1846. Victoria Tower, which was often referred to as the 'docker's clock', was built as an aid to ships in the port, as it allowed them to set the correct time as they sailed out into the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

, while its bell warned of impending meteorological changes such as high tide and fog. Upon its completion is also served as a flat for the Pier Master. In 1975, the building was added to the

Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

with Grade II status.

Victoria Tower today

Due to the decline in docking within Liverpool, the tower has fallen into a state of disrepair suffering significant decay due to both water and wind damage. The tower is also overgrown with vegetation and has a leaking roof. Nonetheless, despite being in a state of dereliction, Victoria Tower is part of the Stanley Dock Conservation Area and also Liverpool's

World Heritage A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Maritime Mercantile City. In April 2010, it was announced that Victoria Tower, along with several other buildings around

Clarence Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a l ...

and Salisbury docks, would be repaired by owners,

Peel Holdings The Peel Group is a British infrastructure and property investment business, based in Manchester. In 2022, its Peel Land and Property estate extends to of buildings, and over of land and water. Peel retains minority stakes in its former ports ...

. The tower and the areas around it are also included in the proposed £5.5bn regeneration programme,

Liverpool Waters Liverpool Waters is a large scale £5.5bn development that has been proposed by the Peel Group in the Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The development will make use of a series of presently derelict dock sp ...

Design

Hartley's inspiration for the tower's design was the castle architecture of the

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region in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

and is clearly visible in the numerous

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...

s that are cut into the tower walls. It was constructed from 'irregular shaped' blocks of grey

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

, a building material that was used in many of Hartley's other construction projects. The tower can be roughly split into three portions: *The tapered circular base, which has several arched alcoves *The central hexagonal column onto which the tower's six clocks are attached *The roof, which consists of an overhanging '

castellated A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

' that is supported by several

corbels In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the st ...

References

{{Port of Liverpool docks Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Gothic Revival architecture in Merseyside Clock towers in the United Kingdom Liverpool docks Individual clocks in England Towers completed in 1848