The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-11-14 00:00:00

THE INTENP--,ED HARBOUR AND DOCK IN accommodation as wet-docks for the shipping, and dis-
WALLASEY POOL. charge of merchandise of less bulk and more value.
The df.iertnination of the Birkenhead Commissioners The plan is susceptible of any extension that may be
to. P
.P 1319 krthwith to parliament for power to construct hereafter recruired,eitherouton BidstonMarsh,—the upper
an extensive harbour, and an immense dock immediately part of the land belonging to the corporation remaining
above it, on the site of Wallasey Pool, for the reception of unsold, and at their disposal either by sale to others, or
vessels from all parts of the world, was (as will be found as joining themselves in the general plan,—and the whole
elsewhere) announced on Tuesday last, by Mr. William may be appropriated with advantage, as it is either on a
Jackson, at a meeting of the members of that body. The dead level, or below the level of the Pool at high water.
announcement was made as soon after the recent sale by The general result will be (it is anticipated) to make
our corporation, to Mr. John Laird, (one of the corn- Liverpool the cheapest port to come to in the kingdom
missioners,) of some land on the margin of the creek, as a for dock accommodation, warehousing, ship-building, and
general plan of the intended works—for which surveys, repairs of vessels, engine making, &c., &c., from the great
borings, and estimates were commenced in July last, and facilities afforded by this intended adjunct to the port.
strictly continued up to the present time—could be corn- FURTHER REMARKS.
pleted with sufficient accuracy to be laid before the pub- There is, we learn from the same authority, no feeling
lie ; and backed as it had previously been by the approval whatever entertained by the parties who have originated
approval of the admiralty, it came upon the parties inte- and developed the plan submitted, to establish a port an-
rested in the shipping and warehouse accommodations of tagonist to Liverpool itself; but, on the contrary, they
our port so unexpectedly, yet with such stamp of magni- consider the whole as an extension, called for by the re-
ficence and feasibility, as to startle some whose interests quirements of the times, of the common port,—the parties
may be partially, though perhaps temporarily, injured by looking for no personal advantage beyond what that ex-
the innovation ; and to excite the deepest interest, and in tension may effect in the increase of our' river trade, and
some instances the unqualified approbation, amongst a the consequent increased value of the general property on
large portion of the commercial community, who could the other side of the water. Even the land just purchased
not fail to foresee in the accompiishment of the scheme by Mr. Laird will be under a comparative disadvantage,
the commencement of a new era in the history of our as, from the intended plan, it will be situated considerably
port—giving large promise of an extensive and profitable in the back ground with reference to the dock. The ma-
extension of the maritime and inland trade of our river, nagement, moreover, being vested in the Birkenhead
to be shared, however, as in justice perhaps it ought, by Commissioners, need, it is presumed, excite no alarm, in-
our opposite neighbours. asrnuch as they are eligible to office on the suffrages of the
The speech of Mr. Jackson supplies a general outline of £lO householders, who will have the power of ejecting any
the project; but the sensation which it has created has or all of them, on a showing of unfairness or mismanag
induced us to obtain some interesting details from the went
originators themselves, which will we trust be acceptable.
In submitting them we would not be understood to sub-
scribe to all the advantages expressed, for we believe some
of them to be much too sanguine. Taken, in common
with others, somewhat unawares, we have not yet been
enabled to give each of them that due consideration which
would enable us to arrive at a definite conclusion ; but we
may state generally, as our present impression, that if the
commissioners can make out such a case as is here repre-
sented, and obtain the final approval of government,
(who, through the Admiralty, are the legitimate conser-
vators of the navigation of the river,) all opposition—now
that the land is in reality sold, with unlimited privileges—
were too late, and consequently futile,—however much
we may naturally have cherished a desire that our Corpo-
ration bad retained the matter in their own hands. What
we subjoin, therefore, as to the advantages of the scheme
and the means of carrying it out, must be taken rather as
the alleged grounds upon which the commissioners pur-
gose to support their claim for the concurrence of parlia-
ment, than as our own unqualified opinions, some expo-
sition of which will be found in another column.
The idea of forming a dock, or a chain of docks in Wal-
4asey Pool, (which is immediately opposite the centre of
Liverpoal,) and of converting its banks, and the space be-
tween and such docks, to commercial and manufacturing
purposes, has, from time to time, for many years past, been
entertained by various individuals, to whom it appeared
peculiarly adapted by nature to such purposes, not only
from the depth of tidal water it contains, but from the
lowness of the contiguous land, and the facilities it pre-
sents for docks, but slight excavation being required. To
the late William Laird, Esq., father of Mr. John Laird,
is due the credit of having pointed out in a practical man-
ner, and invited public attention to, the value and adapta-
tion of that creek, which had lain neglected and profitless
ab origine rirrundi: He was the first who occupied a part
of the southern bank, where, in 1824, he commenced ship-
building, before there was a house to be seen in the neigh-
bourhood; and thirteen years afterwards (1837,) he de-
signed anti published a plan of docks in the Pool, so well
considered and digested, that it has, after careful recent
survey, been adopted, with but some slight differences in
detail

As the final plan has not yet been fully prepared,
we, this day, in order to gratify the curiosity of the public,
present to each of our readers a copy of that original de-
sign, from which they may form, taking the alterations
we shall point out into account, a sufficiently accurate
idea (until we can furnish the precise plan,) of the position
and extent of the intended works.
It will be observed that two small outward basins are
defined near the margin of the sea-wall that is to cross the
mouth of the Pool, and that an oblong dock, with ware-
houses, &c. is also marked out, a little to the southward
or:them. These basins and clock are to be left out in the
present plan, and this forms the only material alteration.
In lieu of the two small basins, the inner " half-tide basin"
or now, more properly, the-Outer Harbour, willbe extended
eastward to the river wall, with an open entrance of 302
feet in width. The shipwrights' yards, graving docks,
.&c. will be retained, as also the general features of the
plan interiorly,—the main or " monster" dock communi-
cated with the harbour by double gates, or locks, extend-
ing eastward up the Pool, with a slight obtuse angle or
elbow as far as the bridge at Poulton-cum-Seacombe,
which lies about due east, by true bearing, from Seacombe
Hotel. The sea-wall will extend from Woodside. Slip to
Seacombe Slip, with a very slight inclination inwards, t.)
the entrance, and in a straight line from each slip respect-
ively, the wall being nearly divided in two portions on
each shore, and the longest on the Woodside shore. The
ground has been all bored and surveyed, and it has been
found that the foundations for the outer, and also for the
dock walls are, contrary to preconceived opinion, extremely
favourable : not a pile will have to be driven. The only
places that are soft to a considerable depth are precisely
those that are to be walled in, and very little excavation
will be required.

THE GUT.ER HARBOUR.
This will comprise an area of thirty-seven acres, and it
is considered will be of incalculable advantage from its
being on the windward side of the river with reference to
all our prevailing gales, and having a depth at low water
of spring tides (the lowest water level) of 12 feet. Pro-
tected from westerly storms by the high land of Bidston,
and also from its windward -position having the advantage
of smooth water, it will form a harbour of refuge in bad
weather for vessels that have now to lie at anchor in the
river.

Amongst other advantages stated are the following :
Facilitating the communication by railway from the
dock side to London, Birmingham, the Potteries, and
general manufacturing districts ; and all parts of Wales,
Shropshire, &c. The Dublin mail (by accelerating the
train as proposed, per Holyhead, and employing first-
class boats) may be brought this way, and delivered in
Dublin in sixteen hours from London, and the passengers
fhreo
m rail
tiv;
the
my
ec ar
rror carriages
mo na
yb oaal
also
od tbhee
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et
liaveem.reerd
to 24 hours, by this way—say 61 hours
fiT;ohaGineY
istepais,gonorthon mailsatnd 16 to Glasgow. This can only be ac-
complished by having the railway to run down to the
water's edge; and it may supercede the necessity of the
expensive line of railway to Holyhead, and that north of
Lancaster as well. To obtain this advantage, a tunnel is
to be made under the town of Birkenhead, from the
present station in Grange-lane to the margin of the
docks.
The Irish mail steam-ships, that have now to lie at the
Sloyne, or in the river opposite George's Pier, will find
constant accommodation, with ingress and egress at any
hour ; and river steamers will be found with ample power
and speed to convey theinpassengers to or from Liverpool.
The grand objection to the running of the West India
mail steam-ships—namely, secure harbour accommodation
immediately on their arrival, will be removed ; and it is
anticipated that the whole, or at least a large portion of
them, will be appointed to run to and from the Mersey as
the most eligible station by way of the Irish Channel that
can be selected.
The ferry steamers plying regularly across the river, at
the small charge of 2d. a head, will make the new har-
bour much easier of access than the north or the south
end of Liverpool, and more particularly the south.
Numerous small craft that now lie on the shore at the
mouth of the Pool,where many of them are left highand dry
at low water, may be accommodated afloat in the outer-
harbour. The project of a steam life-boat, recently en-
tertained, and highly desirable to avert the calamities that
may occur through the stranding of vessels on the out-
ward sand-banks or lee shores during gales, may be car-
ried out with much greater prospect of success, inasmuch
as she may be kept in safety and readiness to proceed at
any moment to the point of relief. At present, during
the height of our heaviest gales, no such vessel could be
put out from this side ; and the opposite shore, even
without a harbour, has for many years been found to be
the most eligible and practicable in this respect, from its
windwardness for the smaller life-boats employed,—as has
been shown by the success of late years of the Magazines
Life-boat, housed, and difficult of launching between
Wallasey Pool and the Rock. The difference of the dis-
tance to be sailed or steamed between the Pool and Ma-
gazines, considering that, in such cases, Cheshire is a
weather shore, with comparatively smooth water, is not,
we think, worthy of notice. This item is a suggestion
which we throw out ourselves ; but it is one irre-
spective of the opinions—many of them doubtful and
others antagonist—as to the new docks, which we venture
to advance on the broad and simple ground of humanity
and general utility, whether as affecting one shore or the
other.

THE INNER FLOAT OR HARBOUR

The Inner Harbour or Dock, in its uninterrupted length
from the Outer Harbour to the village of Poulton, will
comprise a water surface, or float for vessels of all bur-
thens, of 130 acres. The total dock accommodation of
Liverpool, supposing the Albert Dock to be completed,
is 1064 acres, according to the report of the Dock Sur-
veyor in September last. Adding to the space in the
Cheshire dock (130 acres) that of the Outer Harbour (37),
which, from its smoothness and depth, may fairly be con-
sidered as so much wet dock, we have 167 acres of float-
ing surface for shipping ! The dock, which will be of
commodious width, will admit of a vast number of
vessels proximate to the quays, as well as in the centre of
ample space for their removal out and in, and from place
to place as may be required. It will be particularly
adapted for the timber and other bulky trades. Vessels
may readily discharge, and ave the timber rafted fi ona
them.

The sides will be appropriated by the various owners of
the propety, (who will be admitted to competition by pur-
chase without restraint on the manner of conducting their
business, or the formation of central canals—saving in so
far as is consistent with security from fire or other da-
mage) for wharfs, slips, warehouses, sheds, &c., as they
may deem proper.
The gates from the Inner Harbour to this immense Dock
will be made sufficiently wide for the largest steamers
afloat, or likely to be constructed ; and as the banks of
the Pool are extremely favourable to manufacturers con-
nected with shipping, it is expected that the Liverpool
engineers will form establishments, with wharfs,
they can have vessels fitted alongside their own premise

—thus saving immense expense in carts

ters may

rds, (mc

One main consideration with regard to the undertaking
is, that it will be accomplished without resorting to taxation
present or prospective. The whole of the works are in-
tended to be constructed by the elected Commissioners of
Birkenhead, with funds raised on the credit of the under-
taking, and whatever rates are received beyond what is
necessary to pay the interest of the loans, and whatever
funds arise from property acquired and disposed of,'will
be applied in reducing the principal of the debt until the
works are relieved from all incumbrances ; the rate, if any
be necessary afterwards, will be required merely for main-
taining the works. Should more property be acquired
than is necessary to discharge the debt, the surplus may
'le realized and applied to the annual charge of mainte-
nance, and the works will then become FREE OF ALL
RATES.

Practical men have given it as their opinion that the
walling in of the Pool, in place of obstructing the cleans-
ing tidal waters of the Mersey, will, by giving the current
a more direct flow " through the neck of the bottle
below,"--the grand reservoir or basin being the wide ex-
panse from South Birkenhead to Runcorn—will not only
tend to keep the lower and more navigable part of the
river quite as deep as it now is, but by a diversion in the
set of the tides, will in all probability reduce, or entirely
wash away, Pluckington Bank, and other obstructions
on this side.

The cost of the contemplated erections is stated to be
about £300,000 ; but even taking into account all the
facilities stated, this will, we conjecture, be found to be
considerably under the mark. In first estimates we have
generally found that one-half more, at least, may be al-
lowed—if not nearly double, before all contingencies can
be met. The sum stated is, however, so small for the
completion of the docks, and the quantity of land that will
be made around them, that any per-centage over the
amount stated is scarcely worthy of consideration.
The projectors do not contemplate the taking of any
land by compulsory process. They consider that they re-
spire none to carry out the plan stated, and will leave
those whose contiguous land may hereafter come into re-
quisition to pursue the course most beneficial to them-
selves. All they require is about 1,000 yards for the for-
mation of a road. The fact here stated entirely removes
the idea of any attempt to benefit immediate and indivi-
dual interests.

We may state, that nine-tenths of the rate-paying
and moneyed inhabitants of Birkenhead are mer-
chants or traders of Liverpool, and that the intended work
may, therefore, be said to be almost a home or " family
affair." Though we do not go, in our estimate, quite so
far on this point, it cannot, we think, be denied that Bir-
kenhead has risen out of the wealth and proximity of " the
good old town,":and if her rapidly rising bantling has
grown in a few years from infancy to somewhat approach-
ing to manhood, we do not see why we should not, with
a good grace, acknowledge the relationship, and laying
down the necessary parental regulations, hold out the
hand of fellowship and mutual good-will. .
We regard to the Admiralty, an unequivocal opinion
has been expressed by them, as well as by many distin-
guished nautical men, that docks in the Pool will be not
only a local, but a great national advantage.
T' f

_be following are some additional interesting particu-
lars connected with the history of the Pool :
In 1824, the late Mr. Wm. Laird purchased 50 acres
of land from F. R. Price, Esq., and established his boiler
and iron-ship building yard, in May of that year. This
was the first effort made to reclaim that otherwise expanse
of waste; and from this germ, comparatively minute and
isolated, has sprung, as from the acorn the noble oak,
(though much more rapidly,) those scions and shoots of
commerce, that give promise of rising to stateliness and
maturity. Shortly after this beginning, the Patent Slip
and the copper-works of Messrs. Bibby and Co. (origi-
nally established by Messrs. Ormerod of Manchester, as
a boiler-manufactory) were commenced, and steamers of
large burthen have since been passing, from time to time,
up the Pool, and a considerable coaling trade is now car-
ried on within it.

Mr. Laird and Sir John Tobin purchased in 1836 a
considerable tract of land in the Pool, from Mr. Price,
and had the whole margins and tidal space surveyed by
the most eminent engineers of the day,—Messrs. Telford,
Nimmo, and Stephenson,—who conjointly reported so
favourably of its adaptations for commercial purposes,
that the Liverpool Corporation came forward, and pur-
chased from the respective owners the marginal land be-
tween the Pool and Woodside. and also some portion of
the land on the Seacombe shore.

The following is an estimate of the expense of con-
structing docks, basins, &c., (according to the plan, by
the late Mr. Laird, which we this day present to our
readers,) at Wallasey Pool and Woodside Bank ; but,
assuming its accuracy at the time, we may state that the
expense of the engineering operations in the construction
of such works has been much reduced by experience, and
the application of improved machinery :
ESTIMATE IN 1837.

Sea-wall fronting river, extending from Woodside
Pier to Seacombe Point, 1,700 running yards
at £4O per yard ,£68,000
Dock and basin walls, 10,800 running yards, at

. . ~
£3O per yard -
Excavations, 3,340,000 cubic yards, at 9d
Paving, 484,000 square yards, at 25.....
Locks, gates, graving docks, and extras

Wallasey Dock.
Woodside Dock
Half-tide Dock
Entrance Basins,

324,000
125,250
48,400
84,350

£650,000

NSIONS OF DOCKS.
. 73 acres, 6,000 yards frontage
▪2l „ 1,300 „
.31 „ 2,000 „ P 1
, 17 ~

ADVANTAGES.
Land gained, at present covered at spring tides,
available for ship and timber yards, ware-
houses, &c., 968,000 square yards, worth
21s £1,016,400
Additional value to adjoining land, belonging
to the Corporation of Liverpool, 206 acres,
suppose ss. per•yard

240,000

£1,256,400

ARREST OF MR: GILMOUR.—It appears that, since
the celebrated Mr. Gilmour, a gentleman well remembered
in this locality, was released from gaol at Edinburgh, he
has been retaken at Glasgow, and taken back on another
charge. _

SCRIPTURE READERS.—On Sunday last, the Rev. J.
Jones, preached a sermon at St. Andrew's Chutrch, on the
utility of employing competent persons to read the scrip-
tures to the working classes at their own residences. The
collection amounted to £36.

On Monday last the life of an infant six weeks old was
unfortunately taken away by an over-dose of syrup of
poppies incautiously administered by its mother. The
parties resided at Runcorn.

CONVEYANCE OF TRANSPORTS.—At the Kirkdale ses-
sions, on Wednesday week, the magistrates oppointed Mr.
William Sheldon the contractor for the conveyance
of transports for the next year.
DEE BANK COLLIERY. -In the Court of Queen's
Bench, on Monday, upon the motion of Mr. Jervis, Q.C.,
the court granted rule to show cause why the verdict for
the plaintiff, at the late Chester assizes, in the cause
" Hanmer V. Eyton," should not be set aside, and a new
trial had; or, why the damages should not be reduced to
the sum of £1614; or, why there should not be a special
case, embodying the facts.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE
STANDARD.

LIVERPOOL

SlR.—.ls you are no doubt aware, from. what ow
in Council on Thursday, that a number of gentlemer
to inquire into the charge brougl
Turner, and Co., by Mr. Corri
wish to know the result of

you annexed copies of resolutions and letters, whit
part of the proceedings. The evidence taken in t 1

When copied

will be sent to me, wit

desire, You may see it

I remair

THE MAYO

2ALTI

The following Cir

BROWN, Esq
joined :

t you have

respectfully,
WILLIAM BROWN

:o the gentlemen who

Referr

g you t

am deputed to request your
(Friday,)
India Association, wiu,
Committee to inquire into, and report upot,
brought by the Collector of the Town Dues
firm of Messrs. SANDS, TURNER, and Co.

tendanc

N DUE

other, IS,

at Twelve o'clOcla

Signed

the for

West I

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