Ellesmere Port Dock is a dock situated on the Manchester Ship Canal, in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. The Ellesmere Canal gives its name to the area were the canal joins the Mersey, by the mid-1790s, it was known as Ellesmere Port. Docks and warehouses were built to facilitate this.
Between 1830 and the 1840s, facilities were improved by Thomas Telford amongst others. In 1846 the Ellesmere Canal was amalgamated into the Shropshire Union Canal. In 1892 a new wharf was built to handle traffic on the Manchester Ship Canal.
In 1921 the docks were leased to the Manchester Ship Canal and this led to the decline of Ellesmere Port. The site is now the National Waterways Museum, Ellesmere Port (formerly known as the Boat Museum).
In 2007, with the reopening of many industries in England that have declined in recent years, ports are now being reopened and the competitive industry of shipbuilding is being reintroduced. Hence, the opening of Ellesmere Port docks along with many across England.
In 2008, the site of Ellesmere Port's operational dock including over 70 acres (280,000 m2) of the waterfront area (immediately to the north-west of Ellesmere Port Historic Dock and Conservation Area and to the south-east of the Bridgewater Paper Works) are the subject of a planning consultation, where it may be proposed that the docks be relocated closer to Eastham on the Cheshire West and Chester/Wirral boundary, and the area redeveloped into a predominantly residential area consisting of up to 8,000 new homes. Plans for this development are expected to be submitted to the Local Authority during early 2009.