Vittoria Dock is a

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...

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 ...

. It was built between 1904 and 1908, from land reclaimed during the construction of the

Great Float The Great Float is a body of water on the Wirral Peninsula, England, formed from the natural tidal inlet, the Wallasey Pool. It is split into two large docks, East Float and West Float, both part of the Birkenhead Docks complex. The docks ru ...

History

The dock was designed by

Anthony George Lyster Anthony George Lyster (1852 – 17 March 1920) was born in Hollyhead, Wales. He was engineer-in-chief to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board from 1897, when he succeeded his father, George Fosbery Lyster, until his retirement in 1913, when he wa ...

. Construction began in 1905, from the land reclaimed during the construction of the

. During its construction on 6 March 1909, a temporary

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

collapsed, killing 14

navvies Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...

. This incident is now referred to as the Birkenhead Dock Disaster. The dock was opened in 1909, having warehouses on either side.

The name ''Vittoria''

The dock is named after the

Battle of Vittoria At the Battle of Vitoria (21 June 1813) a British, Portuguese and Spanish army under the Marquess of Wellington broke the French army under King Joseph Bonaparte and Marshal Jean-Baptiste Jourdan near Vitoria in Spain, eventually leading to ...

, fought on 21 June 1813. An alternative view is that Vittoria Dock has derived its name as a tribute to the first ship to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

the globe, Magellan's ''Vittoria''. However, Magellan's ship was named after the church of ''Santa María de la

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

de Triana'', therefore, this Vittoria naming may be questioned. Vittoria Dock is sometimes incorrectly quoted as 'Victoria Dock', thought in reference to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. However, the wharf was originally known as Victoria, and the plans of 1843 include a Victoria Dock on the site. Although, when acquired by the Liverpool Corporation, the site may have been renamed to avoid confusion with Victoria Dock.

In use

Between 1937 and 1941, HMS ''Conway'', a training ship, was based here. Between the 1920s and 1970s, the Vittoria Wharf terminal was operated by Clan Line Steamers Ltd. The southern quayside was operated by Blue Funnel Line Ltd., which loaded two or three ships each week, destined for the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

. The

Brocklebank Line The Brocklebank Line (formally named Thos. and Jno. Brocklebank) was an English shipping line that operated in the 19th and 20th centuries. Daniel Brocklebank founded a shipyard in Whitehaven in 1785, and expanded in the following years into ope ...

, Houston Line and the

Scottish Shire Line Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

also used the dock. The dock was extended west in 1960, and fell into disuse as container shipping came into use. When the Warship Preservation Trust closed in February 2006, most of its exhibits, which included the HMS ''Plymouth'' and wooden-hulled

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

HMS ''Bronington'', were later moved to Vittoria Dock for safe storage.

Future

The dock is included in

Peel Group 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 ...

's £4.5bn

Wirral Waters Wirral Waters is a large scale £4.5bn development currently being built by the Peel Group for Birkenhead, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. It is the sister programme of the Liverpool Waters project. Since 2012 the two projects have enjoyed en ...

redevelopment. The Baseline Study of July 2008 has been endorsed by

Wirral Borough Council Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council, or simply Wirral Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolit ...

. In February 2009 the initial stage of the planning application for the first major

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

masterplan/quarter was submitted. The development would be expected to take up to 30 years.

Gallery

Image:Benkid77 Ships, Birkenhead docks 090809.JPG, Various ships berthed at Vittoria Dock. Image:Crane Gantry, Vittoria Dock, Birkenhead (geograph 2961431).jpg, The Robert Smith Steel loading gantry. Image:HMS Plymouth, Vittoria Dock, Birkenhead (geograph 2961430).jpg, laid up at Vittoria Wharf.

History

The name ''Vittoria''

In use

Future

Gallery

References

Sources

External links