page_title: Douglas Harbour
section_title: Origins
hierarchical_section_title: Douglas Harbour / Douglas Breakwater / Origins
caption_attribution_description: English: Plan for Douglas Harbour as envisaged by Sir William Hillary
context_page_description: Douglas Harbour is located near Douglas Head at the southern end of Douglas, the capital of the Isle of Man. It is the island's main commercial shipping port. The Port of Douglas was the first in the world to be equipped with Radar.
context_section_description: Sir William Hillary had campaigned for the construction of a Breakwater at Douglas so as to afford the harbour greater shelter and to provide a sheltered haven to ships plying in the Irish Sea. Sir William had written a comprehensive paper on the proposal prior to 1835, when more formal proposals were put forward, and design plans drawn up by Sir John Rennie.
  However, due to bickering no plans were proceeded with and despite campaigning by the Island's press progress in any direction was slow. Much of this was to do with rival proposals for the construction of breakwaters at Peel and Ramsey both of which, as was the case with Douglas, would ultimately rely on approval and funding from the Admiralty. Plans for the Douglas Breakwater were amended by Capt. Vetch but again these were subject to differing opinions and despite the requisite monies being available from 1851 and a further report submitted in 1859, it was not until 1861 that a further set of plans submitted by James Abernethy were approved by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty.
caption: Plan for Douglas Harbour as envisaged by Sir William Hillary (1826).
exif: {}