Gatepiers and huts

Gatepiers to Albert Dock, Albert Pierhead 
1846 
Grade II 

The gatepiers to Albert Dock are built of rusticated sandstone and originally formed part of the perimeter security wall around Albert Dock. 


The Three Gatemen's or Watchmen's Huts, Canning Entrance 
1844 
Grade II 

These little buildings are a tour de force of masonry construction. 

Hartley's technique of building in random granite (part ashlar, part dressed rubble) was extremely durable, but also cheap and this "Cyclopean" form of construction is an ancient form of masonry, in which the irregular shaped stones, from immense to minute size are assembled with very fine joints and a flat surface. 

The central hut has a slightly different roof to the other two, having three tiers of stones, and it originally had an urn finial, upon which was a lantern, acting as a small lighthouse. 

They were built primarily to provide shelter for the men who opened and closed the lock gates, but Hartley took the opportunity to make them symbolic lodges at the entrance to his great dock estate, similar to those found at the entrance to great country estates. 

The huts are all octagonal in plan with battered sides and have roofs of solid tooled granite.