Canning Dock lies within Liverpool’s southern dock system on the River Mersey, part of the historic Port of Liverpool. It connects to Salthouse Dock to the south and reaches the river through the Canning Half Tide Dock to the west. The Canning Graving Docks are accessed directly from the dock basin, giving the site a layered industrial character that stretches back nearly three centuries.
A History Rooted in Trade and Expansion
The dock opened in 1737 under the name Dry Dock, originally functioning as a protected tidal basin and entrance to Old Dock – built in 1709 as the world’s first enclosed commercial dock. After being enclosed as a wet dock, it was officially renamed in 1832 after George Canning, the Liverpool MP. In its earliest years the dock would have handled ships engaged in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Access to the northern dock system once ran through George’s Dock and George’s Basin before reaching Prince’s Dock; George’s Basin was filled in 1874, and George’s Dock followed in 1899, its former site now occupied by the Pier Head. By 1972, Canning Dock had been abandoned as a working commercial facility, along with the Albert Dock and nearby docks, as shipping traffic declined and dredging costs rose.
The Graving Docks and Maritime Museum
Adjoining the main basin are two dry graving docks constructed by Henry Berry between 1765 and 1769, later lengthened and deepened by Jesse Hartley in the 1840s. Restoration of Canning Dock began in 1983, and the graving docks became part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum. They now house two of the museum’s historic vessels: the pilot cutter Edmund Gardner and the schooner De Wadden.
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal Extension
A major piece of waterway infrastructure was completed at Canning Dock in March 2009 – a £22 million extension of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal adding 1.4 miles of navigable waterway. The extension runs from Princes Dock, passes the Pier Head and terminates at Canning Dock. It includes a small canal basin at Mann Island near the Pier Head and a new lock giving boats direct access to the dock.