Trafalgar Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, in England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall and connected to Salisbury Dock 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.

Trafalgar Dock
Trafalgar Dock apartments seen from across the River Mersey
Location
LocationVauxhall, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom
Coordinates53°25′06″N 3°00′14″W / 53.4183°N 3.0039°W / 53.4183; -3.0039
OS gridSJ333919
Details
OwnerThe Peel Group[1]
OperatorMersey Docks and Harbour Company
Opened1836
TypeWet dock
Joins
Area5 acres (2.0 ha), 4,546 sq yd (3,801 m2) (in 1859)[2]
Width at entrance45 ft (14 m) (in 1859)[3]
Quay length764 yd (699 m) (in 1859)[3]
Former entrance to the old Trafalgar Dock from the Mersey.

History

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Trafalgar Dock was designed by Jesse Hartley, opened in 1836 and named after the Battle of Trafalgar.[4]

During the early 1990s, most of the dock basin was used as a designated landfill site. This has left only a section of the northern part of the dock and a narrow channel along the eastern dock wall.[5] 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, providing a further 1.4 mi (2.3 km) of navigable waterway.[6] A new 6.5 m (21 ft)-wide channel was excavated through Trafalgar Dock to the northern end of West Waterloo Dock as part of the canal route.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Liverpool Canal Link Skipper's Guide 2016" (PDF). Canal & River Trust. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  2. ^ Baines 1859, Part II, p. 93
  3. ^ a b Baines 1859, Part II, p. 116
  4. ^ "Trafalgar Dock". Liverpool History Online. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Liverpool Canal Link: (Section 2) Central Docks Channel". British Waterways. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  6. ^ "Liverpool Canal Link: The Scheme". British Waterways. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2008.

Sources

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Further reading

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  • McCarron, Ken; Jarvis, Adrian (1992). Give a Dock a Good Name?. Birkenhead: Merseyside Port Folios. pp. 90–92. ISBN 9780951612941. OCLC 27770301.
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