Jesse Hartley
Encyclopedia
Hartley's career
Despite having no experience of dock building, Hartley was the first full-time professional dock engineer in the world. He had previously worked for his father, Bernard Hartley who was a stonemason, architect and bridgemaster, John Carr and the Duke of Devonshire.Initially he was appointed Deputy Dock Surveyor to John Foster Jr
John Foster (architect)
John Foster, Junior was an English architect.-Biography:Foster studied under Jeffry Wyatt in London and in 1809 travelled in the eastern Mediterranean. During 1810-11 he accompanied C. R. Cockerell and the German archaeologists Haller and Linckh in their excavation of the temples at Aegina and...
. However, due to John Foster Jr. resigning three days later, he was promoted to Acting Dock Surveyor. During his service, he not only built new docks, but also modernised all of the existing docks, with the exception of the Old Dock (opened in 1715) which had become disused and filled in. The docks at Liverpool grew from 46 to 212 acres (19 to 86 ha) during his tenure.
In 1831 he was appointed to convert the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal to a railway line. He persuaded the company to keep the canal open and build the railway more or less along its route.
Between 1841 and 1843 he prepared a number of different designs for fireproof construction of dockside warehouses. In 1843, he made models of warehouse arches at the Trentham Street Dockyard, to test sheet iron lined timber floored building method and brick and iron building materials. Through fire testing of these models, he eventually convinced the Dock Board Trustees of the benefits of his iron framed construction method. These experiments proved the worthiness of his fireproof design and he designed the Albert Dock to these specifications.
Hartley’s improvements over earlier dock and warehouse design included the use of locks to keep the water at a constant level, so that loading and unloading of ships’ cargoes was not reliant on the tide and the enclosure of the dock with high boundary walls, to reduce theft from the docks. He also adapted and improved the design of St Katherine’s Dock
St Katharine Docks
St Katharine Docks, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, were one of the commercial docks serving London, on the north side of the river Thames just east of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge...
in London, by incorporating high arches in the buildings to accommodate cranes.
Docks built
- Clarence Dock – opened 1830
- Brunswick DockBrunswick DockBrunswick Dock is a dock, on the River Mersey and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Coburg Dock to the north, Toxteth Dock to the south. The dock was opened in 1832, designed by Jesse Hartley, specifically as a timber dock...
– opened 1832 - Waterloo DockWest Waterloo DockWest Waterloo Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall and connected to Princes Half Tide Dock to the south...
– opened 1834 - Victoria DockVictoria Dock, LiverpoolVictoria Dock was a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. Situated in the northern dock system, it was connected to Trafalgar Dock to the north and West Waterloo Dock to the south...
– opened 1836 - Trafalgar DockTrafalgar DockTrafalgar Dock is a dock, on the River Mersey and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall and connected to Salisbury Dock to the north. The sites of two former docks are located in the vicinity; Victoria Dock was located to the south and Clarence Dock...
– opened 1836 - Canning Half-tide DockCanning Half Tide DockCanning Half Tide Dock on the River Mersey, Liverpool, England is a half tide dock and is part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, connected to Canning Dock to the east and Albert Dock to the south...
- opened 1837 - Albert DockAlbert DockThe Albert Dock is a complex of dock buildings and warehouses in Liverpool, England. Designed by Jesse Hartley and Philip Hardwick, it was opened in 1846, and was the first structure in Britain to be built from cast iron, brick and stone, with no structural wood...
– opened 1845 (Officially opened 1846 by the Prince Consort) - Salisbury DockSalisbury DockSalisbury Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall and is connected to Nelson Dock to the north, Trafalgar Dock to the south and inland to Collingwood Dock...
– opened 1848 - Collingwood DockCollingwood DockCollingwood Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall, and is connected to Stanley Dock to the east and Salisbury Dock to the west...
– opened 1848 - Stanley DockStanley DockStanley Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the Vauxhall area of Liverpool and is part of the northern dock system. The dock is connected to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal to the east and Collingwood Dock to the west.Designed by Jesse...
– opened 1848 - Nelson Dock – opened 1848
- Bramley-Moore DockBramley-Moore DockBramley-Moore Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Vauxhall, connected to Sandon Half Tide Dock to the north and Nelson Dock to the south...
– opened 1848 - Wellington DockWellington DockWellington Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Kirkdale, connected to the Sandon Half Tide Dock to the west.It was designed by Jesse Hartley and opened in 1851....
- opened in 1851 - Wellington Half-tide DockSandon Half Tide DockSandon Half Tide Dock is a half tide dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Kirkdale, connected to Huskisson Dock to the north, Wellington Dock to the east and Bramley-Moore Dock to the south...
- Sandon DockSandon DockSandon Dock was a dock on the River Mersey, England and part of the Port of Liverpool. Situated in the northern dock system, it was east of Sandon Half Tide Dock, to which it was once connected.It was designed by Jesse Hartley and opened in 1851...
– opened 1849 - Huskisson DockHuskisson DockHuskisson Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, England which forms part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the northern dock system in Kirkdale. Huskisson Dock consists of a main basin nearest the river wall and two branch docks to the east...
– opened 1852 - Canada Dock – opened 1859
Notable buildings
Hartley utilised an eclectic mix of styles and methods of construction in the various buildings associated with the docks. These ranged from the cyclopean to ordinary brick built methods and styles as diverse as Greek revival and severe Gothic.- Albert Dock Warehouses
- Wapping Dock Warehouse
- Stanley Dock Warehouses
- Stanley and Wapping Docks’ Accumulator towers
- Canada Dock Accumulator tower (demolished)
- Wapping Policeman’s Lodge
- Salthouse Dock Transit shed (rebuilt granite gable end survives)
- Canning Half-tide Dock Watchmen’s Huts
- Victoria TowerVictoria Tower (Liverpool)Victoria Tower is a Grade II listed Gothic style clock tower located alongside Salisbury Dock in Liverpool, England. Positioned among the two river entrance gates to the Salisbury Dock itself, the tower acted as an aid to ships by providing both an accurate time and also warning of impending...