East Lock To Royal Dock Including Railings And Bollards

TA2711SE 699-1/5/127

GRIMSBY ROYAL DOCK, The Docks East lock to Royal Dock including railings and bollards

GV II

Former sea lock to Royal Dock. 1849-52, by James Rendel, engineer, with Adam Smith of Brigg as resident engineer, and Hutchings, Brown and Wright, contractors, for Grimsby Dock Company. York stone sides. Steel and timber gates. The lock, measuring 200 by 45 feet, flanks the east side of the island pier on which the Dock Tower stands (qv), and is smaller than the parallel lock on the west side (qv). Ashlar walls with recesses for 2 sets of lock gates and outer flood gates, with water depth inscribed alongside in Roman numerals. On the lockside are small areas of York stone paving incorporating channels for hydraulic gear, cast-iron mooring bollards and iron railings incorporating original C19 sections with column principals with ball finials. No longer used as a lock, it now forms part of the Dock, being blocked on the north side of the flood gates with an infill behind the gates which spans between the former recesses for the gates.    

HISTORY: the Royal Dock (qv), opened in 1852, was used primarily for trade with northern Europe and the Baltic, and its foundation stone was laid at the site of the lock gates by Prince Albert in 1849 (commemorated by the Statue of Prince Albert in front of the Dock Offices, qv). The gates were originally moved by water hydraulic power provided by the low-pressure hydraulic Dock Tower, and later by the high-pressure accumulator tower to the west (qv). The Royal Dock and its 2 entrance locks (this one and its partner west lock) are notable for the technical innovations in the structure of the dock and the use of hydraulic systems. The locks are believed to be one of the first major uses of hydraulic power, and the only low-pressure system of this type to be built.

(Civil Engineering Heritage: Labrum EA: Eastern and Central England: London: 1994-: 52-4; University of Hull Publications: Gillett E: A History of Grimsby: London: 1970-: 214-5; A guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Lincolnshire & S.Humbs: Wright NR: Lincoln: 1983-: 16-18; Ambler RW: Great Grimsby Fishing Heritage: a brief for a trail: Grimsby Borough Council: 1990-: 17-18, 20-22).

Listing NGR: TA2784311299