Boat Hoist On South Side Of South Dock

The boat hoist on the south side of South Dock, built around 1862, was invented by W H Bartholomew to transfer coal from canal barges into seagoing vessels. The structure features a framework of cast-iron girders supported by ashlar abutments, and it carries weather-boarded cabins and a turret with asphalted roofs. The hoist has a five-stage tower in a pyramidal shape, topped with a semicircular roofed cabin at the fifth stage and a tapering domed turret.

On the east side, there is a tall three-storey compartment with 12-pane Yorkshire sash windows on the first two storeys. At the base, a cradle is submerged below the compartment boat, which is raised by hydraulic cylinders to the third stage. Here, a tipping cylinder tips the compartment boat to project coal down a shoot into the hold of a waiting vessel. Buffers and clamps help rectify the tipped, emptied compartment, which is then returned hydraulically in the cradle back to the water.

The upper cabins and tower house the haulage gear. The compartment boats, known locally as Tom Puddings, are unique to Goole, with originally five hoists built; currently, only two remain, the other being adjacent to Aldam Dock. The hoist was disused at the time of the last survey.