Alexandra 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 Bootle. Alexandra Dock consists of a main basin nearest the river wall and three branch docks to the east, with the southern branch mostly filled in.
| Alexandra Dock | |
|---|---|
.jpg) "Go Pegasus" in Alexandra Dock, seen from across the River Mersey | |
| Location | |
| Location | Bootle, Merseyside, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 53°26′51″N 3°00′43″W / 53.4474°N 3.0120°W |
| OS grid | SJ328849 |
| Details | |
| Owner | Peel Holdings |
| Operator | Mersey Docks and Harbour Company |
| Opened | 1881 |
| Type | Wet dock |
| Joins | |
| Area | 44 acres (18 ha)[1] |
| Transport links |
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History
edit
The dock was built by George Fosbery Lyster between 1874 and 1882.[1] During its construction, the dock was known as Atlantic Dock for about a year.[2] Opened in 1881 and named in honour of Queen Alexandra,[2] the dock has three branch docks and is connected to Hornby Dock to the north and Langton Dock to the south.[3] Initially, access was through Langton Dock and the problematic Canada Basin.[2]
Prior to the construction of Seaforth Dock, Alexandra Dock was involved in the grain trade.[4] The grain silos had a 110,000 ton capacity, with floor space for a further 20,000 tons.[2] The dock also had refrigeration facilities, which were provided by Union Cold Storage,[4] for imported frozen meat. When built, the cold store was the largest in Europe with a capacity of 2,668,000 cu ft (75,500 m3).[2] The facility was built at the end of No. 3 Branch Dock, and allowed direct transfer to ships in No. 2 Branch Dock.[2]
The dock was served by LNWR Alexandra Dock railway station and the Liverpool Overhead Railway's Alexandra Dock (LOR) railway station.
Latterly, its main export is recycled scrap metal.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b Pollard & Pevsner 2006, p. 277
- ^ a b c d e f McCarron & Jarvis 1992, pp. 4–6
- ^ McCarron & Jarvis 1992, pp. viii–ix
- ^ a b Woolley 1989, p. 28
- ^ Trading Places: A History of Liverpool Docks, Liverpool Museums, archived from the original on 28 October 2008, retrieved 16 July 2008
Sources
edit- McCarron, Ken; Jarvis, Adrian (1992). Give a Dock a Good Name?. Birkenhead: Merseyside Port Folios. ISBN 9780951612941. OCLC 27770301.
- Pollard, Richard; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2006). Lancashire: Liverpool and the South West. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300109108. OCLC 63396571.
- Woolley, Peter W. (1989). Liverpool. Vol. 2: A Portrait of the Docks and River Mersey. S. B. Publications. ISBN 9781870708173. OCLC 834469835.
External links
edit
- Port of Liverpool Official Website
- "Liverpool North Docks diagram". Liverpool 2007. Archived from the original on 30 March 2007.
- Alexandra Dock
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