AN ARCHITECTURAL WALKING TOUR OF LIVERPOOL

Thomas Steers Way [1] was completed in 2008 as part of Grosvenor’s Liverpool One Masterplan Project, the landscape architect responsible for the design was a firm called Gross Max.1 The site has significant historical value for Liverpool and it is arguably one of the reasons why Liverpool became so successful. 

The site for Thomas Steers Way was originally the location of Liverpool’s first dock, the first wet-dock in Britain.  At the start of the 1700s Liverpool’s council had been discussing building a dock in the city, they consulted engineers from the Port of London.  George Sorogold had recently constructed the country's first dock and was the leading civil engineer at the time, he was asked to survey the feasibility of a proposed dock in Liverpool.  When the dock was approved Sorogold unfortunately had to decline the offer to become the chief engineer, which is how Thomas Steers took control.  Steers was employed as junior engineer to Sorogold during the construction of Howland Great Dock and after recommendation from the Earl of Derby, Steers was commissioned to construct Liverpool first dock.  Thomas Steers arrived in Liverpool in 1710 and the dock was completed in 1715, although additional features meant the work continued until 1721.2  Bailey and Millington explain the location of the Old Dock, as it soon came to be known:

“The ‘Old Dock’ at Liverpool was begun in 1710 and opened in 1715.  It had accommodation for 80-100 ships and was an immediate success. The upper reaches of the Pool, now cut off from the river, were drained and converted into two streets, Common Shore (now Paradise Street) and Frog Lane (now Whitechapel).”3

Liverpool’s Old Dock became so successful that the waterfront continued to build and expand the docklands.  As ships increased in size some of the older docks became inaccessible or not large enough to store the amount of cargo arriving, therefore some of the docks had to be closed and find new uses for the sites:

”The Old Dock, for instance, was closed in 1826 and its site used for a new Customs House, which having sustained heavy air raid damage, has in its turn passed away.” 4

In 1824 Jesse Hartley became chief dock engineer, this appointment advanced Liverpool’s docking industry further.  As the city continued to grow Hartley made some pivotal decisions: 

“His first decision was to close and fill in Old Dock in 1827, and commission the construction of the New Customs House.  The foundation stone was laid on 12th August 1828, but it would be 11 years before the building was completed, at a cost of £180,000.”5

The Custom House [2] was constructed on the site of the filled in Old Dock, it took a commanding position on the waterfront and was funded by Liverpool’s growing wealth via the influx the dock and trading industry had brought to the city, Quentin Hughes describes the building:

”It faced the Town Hall down the length of Castle street and was the largest building in Liverpool at the time.  Its south facade looked out over Canning and Salthouse Docks.  Picton disliked it, remarking that ‘sadness and gloom predominate to an almost painful degree’, but then he also disliked the Albert Dock Warehouses… We would now consider the Customs House most impressive, its sombre architecture without decoration or sculpture, appropriate to a northern commercial city.” 6 

The Custom House was designed by John Foster junior it consisted of two large wings with the centre surmounted by a significant dome and a cupola.  It was built with white freestone and opened in 1828 to house the custom and excise offices and the main post office.7  Sharples explains that the building was a focal point for the city: 

“Its dome and north portico closed the view - south from the Town Hall, while its west portico commanded the dock road.  With its demolition after Second World War damage, a symbolic focal point for much of the centre was lost.” 8

The building was damaged during the war and regrettably it was demolished, Wilkinson criticises that decision as well as the office buildings that took its place: 

“However, the City Fathers had other ideas, which included the deteriorating, totally unsympathetic steel and glass construction that now jars the eye.” 9

Sharples and Stonard explain that other buildings that were damaged during the war such as India Buildings and the White Star Line were restored rather than demolished.10 Sharples continues to suggest that the building was demolished as some form of post-war short term employment opportunity.11 Hughes includes Custom House in his book Liverpool: City of Architecture one of few buildings that get a mention even though they no longer existed, he details why he made this decision: 

“What a sad loss.  It is recorded here because it need not have gone.  Bombed during the blitz of the Second World War, its shell was largely intact and could have been restored although an alternative use would have been difficult.  Its great stone bulk, larger than St George’s Hall, would have formed a splendid compliment to the Albert Dock Warehouses opposite which it stood.” 12

The buildings that followed on the site are of no great significance, three huge late 1960’s office buildings.  Sharples at the time he published his book Liverpool: Pevsner Architectural Guides (2005) notes that these office blocks have since been demolished and the site is wasteland, although the area was subject to ambitious proposals for redevelopment.13  We are now aware that Liverpool One was the proposal Sharples mentioned.

Liverpool One is a masterplan project commissioned by Grosvenor Developers, it was completed in 2008.  The main focus is arguably the retail aspect, but the masterplan also proposed to redevelop an entire area that was described as disconnected.  The urban design and landscaping helped to reconnect Liverpool’s retail area back to the river and the city’s history, rather than viewing the two areas separately they can now be enjoyed together.14

Thomas Steers Way is important to the Liverpool One scheme because it physically connects the retail and commercial area to the Albert Dock and the waterfront activities.  Named after Liverpool’s first dock engineer, Thomas Steers way actually sits directly above the filled in Old Dock.  The landscape architects Gross Max make references to the history of the dock industry with a water feature and subtle material changes in the floor finishes.15 Gross Max explain:

“The route between the hotel and the park, originally conceived as a ‘discovery axis’, has been named Thomas Steers Way.” 16

Bayley describes what the architects decided to do: 

“To celebrate the historical maritime importance of this part of Liverpool, a large water feature, commemorating the ‘Old Dock’ of 1715, has been incorporated into the park, and consist of a series of interlinked pools and fountains.” 17  

The water feature [3] described depicts the life work of William Hutchinson, starting in 1763 Hutchinson measured the high tide and low tide of the River Mersey for 29 years.  At the time this was ground breaking research and with his findings he was able to predict future tidal heights, this was extremely useful to the trade industry as the ships would know what time they could enter and leave the docks.18

During development of Liverpool One respect for the archaeology was written into the planning process, therefore Grosvenor was obliged to investigate the archaeological potential of the site.19  To their surprise they actually found the Old Dock almost fully intact.  It had been preserved underneath the ground for almost 300 years, part of this was turned into a museum tour [4], it can be arranged through Liverpool Maritime Museum to visit the dock under Liverpool One.20

Above ground there is also a viewing point [5], which provides a glimpse of the preserved Old Dock wall below Thomas Steers Way, as Brian Hatton explains: 

“Peering down into this unusual oculus, they will discern some stone ruins, exposed during the building of the new district.  What they will be glimpsing, beneath the signs of renewal around them, are reminders of the origin of modern Liverpool - Thomas Steer’s Dock, opened in 1715.” 21