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The Liverpool waterfront basks in spring sunshine over the weekend By Beverley Goodwin –

Top 10 Surprising Facts about Royal Albert Dock Liverpool

Albert Dock received its Royal title in 2018 in recognition of its maritime history. The former warehouses are now home to attractions such as The Beatles Story, where many Beatles tours visit as part of a comprehensive itinerary.

City sightseeing tours also typically stop here, including hop-on hop-off services and bike tours. Learn more about the quay’s history at the Merseyside Maritime or International Slavery Museums, or discover the stand-up scene at Liverpool’s Comedy Central.

1. It was the first warehouse in Britain to be fireproof

Its warehouses were fireproof and secure; being built entirely from cast iron, brick and stone with no structural wood it became non-combustible. Traders could do deals before their import taxes were due and hydraulic cranes hauled heavy cargoes across the flagstones. With vast warehouses built directly on its quaysides to securely store goods arriving from across the globe, the speed with which ships unloaded and turned around was cut in half.

2. Considered as a revolutionary architectural feat

The Albert Dock By Tim Green from Bradford, UK –

Providing a 120,000 m² of warehouse space, it is supported by large load bearing walls that are 3 feet thick at the base and 19 inches by the fourth level. The buildings design is a complement to todays’ existing construction techniques but at the time, they were considered as radical solutions. One fascinating feature of architecture is the use of stressed skin roofing; at the time this technique was completely unheard of.

Riveted and galvanized wrought iron plates are crossed with huge iron trusses. This creates a shape that looks like an upturned boat hull that acts to support the roof above. Floors in the warehouses are supported by large iron columns. The spaces between the columns are considered highly flexible because stairwells, new windows and lift shafts could be added without compromising the structural integrity of the building.

3. Modified to feature the world’s first hydraulic cranes

About 20 years after its construction, Albert Dock had offered great prosperity in the city, but now it was struggling. Its design was made to handle sailing ships of up to 1,000 tones, however, the development of steam ships meant that soon the dock would not keep up.

Its narrow entrances prevented larger vessels from getting in and its lack of a quayside became an issue. All these issues compounded to a pump house being built. This was part of a redevelopment that saw the majority of the cranes converted to hydraulic use.

4. It served as a base

Royal Albert Dock, 1955By Ben Brooksbank

The start of the Second World War in 1939, made the Albert Dock requisitioned by the Admiralty and used as a base for the British Atlantic fleet. The fleet included small warships, submarines and landing craft docking. As the war raged on, the dock became a target and was struck on several occasions by German bombs.

A bombing raid in 1940, damaged the ships within the dock. It saw more damage during the May Blitz of 1941, the bombing caused destructive damage to the south west stack losing 15 per cent of the dock’s floor space.

5. A major tourist attraction

It is a major tourist attraction in the city and the most visited multi-use attraction in the United Kingdom, outside London.

Today the Albert Dock is one of Liverpool’s most important tourist attractions and a vital component of the city’s UNESCO world heritage Maritime Mercantile City. Being the number one tourist attraction in Liverpool, there is usually an excess of four million visitors per year. Amongst the many attractions at the Albert Dock are the Merseyside Maritime Museum, the Beatles Story and the Tate Liverpool.

A Holiday Inn and Premier Inn both located in the Britannia Pavilion, are hotels found within the Albert Dock. All the five warehouses around the dock, referred to as A, B, C, D and E, are Grade I listed buildings. Also listed Grade I is the former dock traffic office. Other buildings around the dock are listed Grade II; they are the former hydraulic pumping station, and the swing bridge leading from the dock towards the Pierhead.

6. A popular store for valuable cargoes

The Pumphouse, Albert Dock, Liverpool, England By User:Jonathan Oldenbuck –

Albert Dock featured an enclosed design. The direct loading and unloading of goods from warehouses, meant that the complex was more secure than other docks within Liverpool. This feature of the dock made it a popular store for valuable cargoes.

The goods stored there included cotton, silk, tea, tobacco, ivory, brandy and sugar. With the Dock being well ventilated and open to natural light, it kept natural goods fresh for long. This lead the dock to at one point dominate Liverpool’s far eastern trade.

7. 2018 By Royal approval the Dock seals Royal status

The Albert Dock in Liverpool By User: (WT-shared) Albion at wts wikivoyage –

At just 172 years young, the Dock seals Royal status, in recognition of its pivotal role in the city’s fortunes. As it readies itself for a year of celebration in 2021, marking 175 years since its opening, Peter Woods, High Sheriff of Merseyside, hands over official notice of its Royal status.

8. Post war decline

By the end of the Second World War, the future of Albert Dock looked unpromising. The owners were in great financial crisis. They chose not to do repairs on the docks damaged sites. The docking system in the city of Liverpool suffered as a whole. There was a change in geopolitical orientation in Europe, that coupled with the advent of containerization.

With increasing debts, the owners considered demolishing the buildings and redevelop the land. They also entered a negotiation to sell the land to Oldham Estates, but with financial problems at crisis point the scheme fell through. To evade bankruptcy, a decision was reached to sell the south docks system. The warehouses were emptied and Albert Dock finally closed down in 1972.

9. Regeneration of the Albert Dock

View of the construction sites around the east end of Royal Albert Dock in the London Borough of Newham By Kleon3 –

All through the 1970’s, plans emerged for the redevelopment of the Alberts Dock. With some of the redevelopment plans being extreme, Liverpool City Council suggested the use of the dock basin as a landfill site. In 1974, Merseyside County Council was developed and with it a new hope to the Albert Dock. However, disputes between the owners and Liverpool’s City Council development plans were hindered.

This led to the creation of Merseyside Development Corporation in 1981. It spearheaded development processes brought up in the regeneration programs. The top priorities of regeneration were, the restoration of the dock system and removal of the contaminated silt from the dock basin. Also the dock walls were repaired, the dock gates got replaced and the bridges were restored.

10. Grand Beginnings

Dating back in 1837, is the history of the Albert Dock. Jesse Hartley first began the development of plans for a combined dock and a warehouse system. He drew the docks plan with his fellow civil engineer Philip Hardwick.  The plans at the time appeared radical as they envisioned loading and unloading of ships directly from the warehouses.

Hartley tested several structural designs and settled for the combination of cast iron, sandstone, brick and granite. In 1839, the plan was submitted for planning permission, and its only until 1841 when the Parliament passed the authorizing bill that allowed for its construction. For Albert Dock to be constructed, both the Salthouse and the Cunning docks had to be drained.

By February 1845, the dock basin was completed and allowed the first ships to enter, however, the warehouses were still under construction. The dock complex was officially opened in 846 by Albert.  The construction was not fully completed until 1847and over the next years several buildings were added and warehousing in the dock was expanded.