Morpeth Dock

Morpeth Dock
Morpeth Dock, Birkenhead in 2006.

Morpeth Dock is a dock at Birkenhead, Wirral Peninsula, England. Built between 1844 and 1847, it also consisted of a smaller branch dock to the east. It is named after Lord Morpeth, the 7th Earl of Carlisle, who was the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests.

Originally, the dock connected directly to the River Mersey via locks, although the entrance channel has since been partially infilled and the locks removed after being disused for some years. Access to the Great Float via Egerton Dock has also been removed, making both docks effectively landlocked.[1]

Morpeth Dock was used by GWR as the Birkenhead end of cross-river traffic to the Manchester Dock.

Part of the dock and its former branch were filled in to provide a site for a water treatment plant.

Morpeth Dock is due to be transformed under plans for the London 2012 olympics art project. New York based artist Anthony McCall will create Projected Column, a slender, sinuous, spinning column of cloud rising into the sky from the surface of the water in the disused dock. The project will be produced by FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology).

Extending upwards as far as the eye can see, and visible on a clear day from up to 100 km away, the column will disappear and re-appear in slow structured sequences, punctuating the skyline.


Contents

One O'Clock Gun

Situated close to the dock and overlooking the river, the One O'Clock Gun provided a time signal to shipping on the Mersey. It was fired electrically from Bidston Observatory for the first time on 21 September 1867 and the original cannon was a relic of the Crimean War. Due to the advent of radio and increasing maintenance costs, by 1932 it was proposed to discontinue the practice. Although this did not occur, firing was suspended during the Second World War. The tradition ceased altogether on 18 July 1969.[2]

A One O'Clock Gun is still fired at Edinburgh Castle.

Bomb discovery

Birkenhead docks, as well as the surrounding area, were heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. In May 2006, a 60-year-old, 500kg (1,102lb) bomb was discovered by the Royal Navy's Northern Diving Group and disposed of by the minesweeper HMS Atherstone.[3] It was found embedded in mud in the river, near to the former entrance to Morpeth Dock and may have been disturbed during dredging work at the Twelve Quays ferry terminal. The bomb was later detonated in Liverpool Bay.[4]

References

  1. ^ Collard, Ian (2007), Birkenhead Docks, Tempus Publishing, p. 73, ISBN 9780752442594 
  2. ^ The Time Ball & The One O'Clock Gun, Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, http://www.pol.ac.uk/home/history/gun.html, retrieved 12 October 2007 
  3. ^ Atherstone Sails Around Britain and Finds A Bomb!, Royal Navy, http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server?show=ConWebDoc.5833&outputFormat=html, retrieved 12 October 2007 
  4. ^ Ward, David (17 May 2006), Bomb disrupts Mersey shipping, London: Guardian Unlimited, http://www.guardian.co.uk/secondworldwar/story/0,,1776452,00.html, retrieved 12 April 2007 

External links

Coordinates: 53°23′56″N 3°00′44″W / 53.398930°N 3.012126°W / 53.398930; -3.012126


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