Princes Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is the most southerly of the docks situated in the northern part of the Liverpool dock system, connected to Princes Half Tide Dock to the north. The dock is now in the buffer zone to one of Liverpool's World Heritage Sites.
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The dock was built by John Foster, with construction starting in 1810. During the construction, Foster ordered many times more stone than was needed. Allegedly, Foster diverted it to his family's building company. He resigned when this was discovered.
Princes Dock was named after the Prince Regent. It opened on the day of the Prince Regent's coronation as George IV in 1821. Access to the southern half of the dock system was via George's Basin, George's Dock and into Canning Dock. In 1899, both George's Basin and George's Dock were filled in to create what is now the Pier Head.[1]
On 12 June 1895 Liverpool Riverside Station was opened, situated between Princes Dock and the River Mersey.
In 1968 B&I Line (operator of the Liverpool - Dublin service) commenced a new car ferry service from Carrier Dock further downriver. A passenger only service continued to use Princes Dock till 1969.
Ferry services from Princes Dock finally ended in November 1981 when P&O Ferries closed their Liverpool - Belfast overnight service. The dock subsequently closed to shipping and was partly filled.[2]
Much of Princes Dock's wharfage and warehouse space has been replaced by:
The dock has been divided into two sections spanned by a pedestrian bridge[5] that was designed by the Liverpool John Moores University Centre for Architectural Research and Consultancy Unit (CARCU).[6]
By March 2009 work was completed[7][8] on a £22 million extension of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, providing a further 1.4 miles of navigable waterway.[9] A new lock and fixed bridge was built at the northern end of Princes Dock. At the south end of the dock, a new canal tunnel was constructed which leads to the Pier Head. The tunnel is routed beneath St. Nicholas Place and the access road for the new cruise liner facility.[10] From Princes Dock, the extension passes the Pier Head and terminates at Canning Dock.[9]
Princes Dock is mentioned in the novel Redburn, His First Voyage by Herman Melville (1849):[11]
"In magnitude, cost and durability the docks of Liverpool surpass all others in the world... for miles you may walk along that riverside, passing dock after dock, like a chain of immense fortresses. Prince's Dock, of comparatively recent construction, is perhaps the largest of all and is well known to American sailors from the fact that it is mostly frequented by the American shipping."
It is also mentioned in The English at the North Pole, the first part of Jules Verne novel The Adventures of Captain Hatteras (1864)[12].
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