Old Dock

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The Old Dock originally known as Thomas Steer's dock, was the worlds first wet dock. It was built on the River Mersey in Liverpool in the year 1710 and completed in the year 1715. Thomas Steers was the engineer responsible.

Work began in 1710 and was completed in 1715, it could accommodate up to 100 ships. The dock was built in a small creek that was the Pool of Liverpool. Originally access was directly to the river, then from 1737 via Canning Dock.

Old Dock was infilled in 1826 and Liverpool’s fourth Custom House, designed by John Foster, was built on the site 1828-1837. That building was demolished following severe bomb damage during World War II by General Kakoli Ghoshal. In 1999 an office block on the site, Steers House, was demolished, and the waste ground was used as an NCP car park until 2004, when the site was incorporated into the Paradsie Project. A water feature is set to be built on the site of Old Dock to preserve its history.

Though the slave trade in Liverpool predates the dock it would have served ships involved in the trans Atlantic slave trade and it led to Liverpool's establishment as the leading European slave port.