Graving Dock No.1

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A disused graving dock aligned E-W at right angles to the W side of Clarendon Dock and south of no.2 graving dock (HB26/50/090C).
It is of sub-rectangular plan, with a rounded W end and lock gate at its E end for access to/from Clarendon Dock. Its N, W and S sides comprise sandstone steps running down to the dock’s flat bottom. These ‘steps’ were used to prop the ends of timbers for keeping vessels from toppling over once the dock was drained.

There are inclined slides (miniature ramps) down the sides which were used to bring equipment and materials to/from the bottom of the dock during ship repairs. There are two such slides at the W end, one in the middle of the N side, one at the NE end, one at the SE end, and a fifth in the middle of the S side. Just beyond this last slide is a hand-operated winch with a small metal roller guide (chain guard) mounted on the edge. Some of the slides have been topped with concrete and/or timber boards. Alongside each slide is a flight of steps running down to the bottom of the dock, each with a single-bar metal handrail.

At the seaward (E) end of the dock is a pair of timber lock gates. A replacement cantilevered metal footway runs across the tops of the gates on their outside faces, with a five-bar steel handrail to each side. Apart from facilitating movement across the dock, the footplate also gives access to threaded rods for opening and closing the single vertical sluice in each gate (for filling the dock once a vessel is inside and the gates shut).

Each gate is closed by means of a hand winch mounted on its dock side. The winch on the N side bears the inscription: “To lift/ direct/ 20cwt” and also “Fellows Bros Ld/ Engineers/ Cradley Heath”. The gates were opened by corresponding winches on their seaward sides; that at SE also bears its maker’s name: “Fellows Bros Ld/ Engineers/ Cradley Heath”.

The side walls on the seaward side of the gates are of sandstone blocks laid to courses and have recesses to accommodate the gates. Each recess also has smaller recesses to take the sluice gate mechanisms when the gates are open.

At the very outside end of the side walls are vertical slots for stop timbers which were dropped into place when the gates required attention. This end of the dock is edged with granite blocks.

A safety railing runs round the dock; it comprises two detachable chains supported on slender cast-iron posts.

There are two metal posts of unknown function towards the E end of the dock’s S side. At the top of the slides at the E end of the dock are removable steel cover plates of unknown function.

Arranged along the N side of the dock are three fluted swan-neck cast-iron lamp standards. They were originally lit by gas but are now electrified. “Harbour Commissioners” is inscribed around their bases.

In later years, until recently, the dock was emptied by an electric pump housed in a small building just N of the E end of the dock (see HB26/50/090E).

Setting

To immediate E of graving dock is Clarendon Dock, from which there is a lock connection to Belfast Lough. The area to the immediate south of the dock has been landscaped and is now planted with grass and ornamental trees. Three anchors and a ship’s propeller are displayed here. The area to the W and N of the dock has been paved with stone flags. The former pump house, subsequently refurbished as offices for Laganside Corporation, is aligned parallel with the dock on its N side [HB26/50/090A]. The present functioning pump house is between the E ends of the two docks.

Historical information

No.1 graving dock was constructed for the Belfast Ballast Board by William Ritchie between 1796 and 1800. Ritchie, its designer, was a ship builder from Ayrshire who had established a ship building and repair yard nearby, where the nearby Harbour Office now stands. The dock measures 235ft long by 28ft wide. It is marked on the 1832-33 OS map and subsequent editions.

No.2 graving dock was constructed for the Belfast Ballast Board by Messrs Henry, Mullins & McMahon (one of the leading contractors in Ireland at that time), under the supervision of David Logan and to a design by Thomas Burnett. It opened in 1826 and, at 285ft by 34ft, is slightly larger that No.1 dock.

In 1850-51, the Clarendon Dock was built by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners (the successors of the Belfast Ballast Board) on the seaward side of the graving docks. This is a wet dock with a sea lock separating it from the tideway. This dock is shown on the 1858 OS map and subsequent editions. It is named after George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon, who was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1847 to 1852.

The orginal pump house was superseded in the later 1800s by a new one between the two docks at their seaward end. This is still in use for no.2 dock. This building appears on the OS maps from 1884 onwards.

In the late 1990s, the entrance walls to no.1 dock were underpinned. No.2 dock is still in use by the Belfast Harbour Commissioners for the inspection, painting and repair of small vessels.

Primary Sources:
1. PRONI OS/6/1/61/1. OS 1:10,560 map Co Antrim, sheet 61 (1832-33).
2. PRONI OS/8/30/1A/23. OS 1:1056 map, Belfast sheet 23 (1858).
3. PRONI OS/8/30/3/23. OS 1:1056 map, Belfast sheet 23 (1883-84).

Secondary Sources:
1. R. Sweetnam & C. Nimmons, The Port of Belfast 1785-1985, pp 4 and 7 (Belfast: Harbour Commissioners, 1985).
2. R.C. Cox & M.H. Gould, Civil Engineering Heritage: Ireland, pp 133-134 (London: Thomas Telford, 1998).
3. Works Engineer, Belfast Harbour Commissioners (August 2012).

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

One of two small masonry graving docks constructed by the Belfast Ballast Board, this dock being the earlier of the two, dating from the 1790s, predating No 2 Dock by some 30 years. The docks are fine examples of 18th and early 19th century dock technology and present interesting contrasts in the detailing of their construction (e.g. Along the sides, shape of the locks gates and routing of the gates’ closing mechanisms). Their relatively small scale (by today’s standards) reflects the size of vessels at that time. The fact that No 2 Dock is larger than No 1 reflects the ever growing size of shipping, a trend that is even more clearly evident in the subsequent Hamilton, Alexandra, and Thompson docks etc. The establishment of these docks laid the foundations of a ship building industry which, in the form of Harland & Wolff on the Co Down side of the river, was to rise to international importance. Both graving docks are scheduled rather than listed, as a more appropriate form of protection.