Hydraulic Accumulator Tower To West Of The Dock Tower

The Hydraulic Accumulator Tower, built in 1892 for The Grimsby Dock Company, is located to the west of the Dock Tower in Grimsby. This tower is constructed from red-brown brick with ashlar dressings and stands 78 feet tall. It is a square, single-stage structure featuring a round-headed door on the south side. Each side has a full-height panel with chamfered brick reveals at the bottom and sides, topped with a dentilled and chamfered cornice. The panels contain four tiers of narrow twin round-headed openings with stone sills, chamfered jambs, and rubbed-brick arches. Notably, one of the second-tier openings on the west side has been blocked in the 20th century. The east and west sides also have small single stone panels between and below the second tier of openings, along with a central vertical row of iron fixing bolts. The top section of the tower features imitation machicolations and a brick-coped parapet with pointed arched crenellations, with ashlar caps on the corner crenellations.

This accumulator tower was designed to provide high-pressure hydraulic power for moving the gates of the east and west locks to the Royal Dock and to operate dockside machinery. It largely replaced the earlier Dock Tower and its cap design reflects that of the previous tower. In 1980, it was superseded by an electrically-driven oil-hydraulic system. Together with the earlier Dock Tower, this accumulator tower represents a significant example of early hydraulic systems, showcasing the evolution from low-pressure to high-pressure hydraulic technology.