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Salthouse and Duke's Dock
Salthouse Dock
Circa 1753, 1842 and 1853
Grade II
Coal from Lancashire was brought to Liverpool to refine rock salt from Cheshire, and manufactured salt was brought down from Northwich.
There was an extensive business community buying, selling and exporting salt to such places as the Isle of Man and (later) Newfoundland for salting fish.
After Albert Dock opened, Salthouse Dock was used mainly for loading vessels, which had discharged in Albert. Much of the masonry now visible dates from improvements made in 1842 and 1855, but some of that at the south west corner is original.
Salthouse Dock has entrances to Albert Dock , Canning Dock and Wapping Basin. On the south east corner of the quay is a surviving gable of a transit shed, with a wide segmental arched cart entrance, built by Hartley.
Duke's Dock
1773
Grade II
To the south of Albert is Duke's Dock, built for the Duke of Bridgewater by 1773, with part of the foundations visible of the great grain warehouse built in 1811.
It was extended with a half-tide dock in 1841-5, but Duke's Dock was not incorporated into the Liverpool Dock Estate until 1899. Although it seems to have been regarded as a 'strategic' site, no investment was made there and it remained largely unused except for its warehousing.
By 1960 virtually all activity on the site had ceased, the buildings were demolished piecemeal between then and 1984, and the river entrance was closed.
The retaining walls of the original part of Duke's Dock are constructed of large blocks of coursed sandstone, but they have been repaired in parts with brick and concrete.
The later half-tide dock is faced in granite. At only six metres or so wide, Duke's Dock is relatively narrow compared to all of the other remaining docks and appears more like a canal than a dock. However, it should not be overlooked as it has the most complete 18th century dock retaining walls in Liverpool.