New Dock (quay)

Cadw's description

Location

Built on Bangor flats at the mouth of the Afon Cegain which flows into the Menai Strait at this point.

History

Although shipments of slate were being sent to Ireland from Abercegin (the original name for the area) as early as 1713, it was not until 1790 that Benjamin Wyatt, agent to the Penrhyn Estate since 1786, supervised the building of a stone wharf here, activity on which rapidly increased after the opening of the horse-drawn tramway from the Penrhyn Slate Quarry in 1801. The wharf was further extended in 1829-30 with a final extension in 1855 when the breakwater was added on the eastern side, forming an inner basin.

Exterior

Wharf constructed of finely jointed large Anglesey limestone blocks with iron cramps, the inner basin curved to its southern end and with a breakwater at the north-eastern end curving inwards to protect the entrance to the harbour. There are 2 C19 cranes on the dock, one at the southern end of the inner basin, the other on the western side of the main quay. There are also a large number of bollards, both of stone (the earlier type) and cast-iron, to secure vessels along the western side of the main quay and around the inner basin.

Reason for designation

Listed at II* as a remarkably well-preserved late C18 dock associated with the rapid expansion of the slate industry and for its importance as the main centre for the export of its products until well into the C20.