Wellington Dock And Associated Structures, Including Crane Situated On Esplanade Quay

Wellington Dock and Associated Structures, Including Crane Situated on Esplanade Quay

Wellington Dock is a dock complex in Dover constructed over the early 19th century. Part of the eastern side was built in 1832, part of the western side in 1833-4, and the remainder by 1844. The engineer responsible for the post-1834 works was James Walker, the distinguished maritime engineer and second President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, who inherited unfinished commissions from Thomas Telford.

The dock is lined in Portland stone ashlar blocks with granite coping. It comprises a number of individually named quays that together form Wellington Dock. The dock is narrower towards the north and widens to the south where it is bounded by Union Street. The 20th-century swing bridge, 20th-century concrete extension to Ballast Quay, and De Bradelei warehouses are not of special interest.

Esplanade Quay is situated between the 20th-century swing bridge at the south end and Slip Quay to the north. It is a straight section aligned north-east to south-west and retains a number of cast iron cleats and a crane.

To the north-east of Esplanade Quay is Slip Quay, also aligned north-east to south-west. It has a curved section at the south end and a battered side throughout. At the south end is the early 19th-century Cullins Slip, comprising a sloping slipway with a surface of stone setts with some granite kerbs and two round-headed curbing stones, leading from Cambridge Road into Wellington Dock. Another narrow slipway is situated further north. The northern part of Slip Quay comprised the Patent Slip, which was filled in during the later 20th century. The 20th-century stone wall has an earlier reset cast iron lion's head mask sluice entrance feeding into the dock from the River Dour.

Ballast Quay is a narrow quay projecting between Slip Quay to the east and Northampton Quay to the west. The northern part of the eastern side adjoined Patent Quay and has been filled in. The eastern side slopes and the western side has vertical sides with a number of cast iron cleats, a stone mooring post and iron rings.

There is a curved northern end to Wellington Dock between Ballast Quay and Northampton Quay.

Northampton Quay forms the northern part of the eastern side of Wellington Dock. It has a fairly straight side aligned north-west to south-west, terminating opposite the south end of Slip Quay. It retains some cast iron cleats and iron rings.

Further south is Commercial Quay, which is of similar character but splays outwards towards the south and retains some cast iron cleats. The south side of Wellington Dock has been built out with 20th-century sheet piling.

The crane is a small hand-driven rotatory crane with swan-necked jib of riveted box frame construction. It was built by the Fairburn Engineering Company of Manchester in 1868. It was once used by the Ordnance Department and was originally capable of lifting 50 tons. It was later de-rated to 20 tons and used for lifting yachts out of Wellington Dock.

Historical Development

Although visible fabric does not pre-date the early 19th century, Wellington Dock follows the approximate outlines of part of 16th-century harbour developments west of the town. The layout of the dock can be traced back to the early outline of the Great Pent, built in the 16th century as the replacement to the original first paradise devised by John Clerk in the early 16th century. The arrangement of docks and basins, now comprising Wellington Dock, Granville Dock and Crosswall Quay, was originally arranged to take advantage of a shingle bar which formed a lagoon behind which the River Dour flowed. A large cross wall was built across the lagoon to form the Great Pent. This relates to the present Wellington Dock, from whose north end the River Dour flows. Water from the River Dour was then released through a sluice to clear the other half, or Great Paradise, of silt. The position of this crosswall is still present as Union Street, now containing a 20th-century swing bridge, replacing an earlier one of 1849 which was probably in or near the location of the original sluice.

The approximate outline of the present Wellington Dock as the Great Pent can be traced on maps of Dover spanning from 1595 (thought to be by Thomas Digges), 1641 (from a plat of Dover Castle Town and Harbour by William Eldred), the View of Dover Harbour by J Bevan of 1684-5, and the Plan of the Town, Harbour and Fortifications of Dover of 1737 by H Fouquet. There was a proposal under the civil engineer W Moon to line the Pent in Portland stone but the only part which he completed before his death was the Pent Quay opposite Snargate Street, later known as Commercial Quay, which was constructed by 1832. Another quay at the Pent on the opposite side was completed by Fordham in 1833-4. The Pent, forerunner of Wellington Dock, is also shown on an 1834 plan by Thomas Telford accompanying proposals for works at the docks which recommended construction of tunnels between the Wet Dock, Basin and Harbour. This plan shows both the new quays. Telford died the same year that the plan was produced but Wellington Dock was completed to the designs of James Walker, who inherited both Telford's presidency and commissions. The Great Pent was enclosed by stone quays and later renamed Wellington Dock after the Duke of Wellington, created Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1829. A stone slipway called Cullins Slip is probably of early 19th-century date. A Patent Slip was erected in 1849-50, capable of housing a vessel 230 feet long. This was lengthened in 1888 to take a vessel 556 feet long but it was built over for a car park in the late 20th century.

On the 1866 Ordnance Survey map the area is still known as The Pent, with Slip Quay to the north-west and Commercial Quay to the south-west. A number of properties are shown along Slip Quay, probably connected with shipbuilding. By the 1898 map the name had changed to Wellington Basin and a number of cranes, mooring posts and bollards are marked. Between 1866 and 1898, Ballast Quay was lengthened. There is little change by the 1907 and 1937 maps, but on the current map further quays are differentiated. Wellington Dock is currently in use as a marina.