Preston Dock (also known as Preston Docklands) was a former maritime dock located on the northern bank of the River Ribble approximately west of Preston's city centre in Lancashire, England. It is the location of the Albert Edward Basin which opened in 1892 and is connected to the river by a series of locks.
The dock is from the Irish Sea and provided a port for shipping until its closure in 1981. Most of the historic buildings and facilities have since been demolished and the area is now mainly commercial and residential property, along with some light industry. Following the dock's closure, a public marina was opened in 1987.
History
Prehistory
The prehistory of the lands around what is now the Preston Docks, and the use of the River Ribble as a waterway dates back many thousands of years. Excavation for the docks in the 1880s uncovered neolithic artefacts around 6,000 to 10,000 years old, some of which can be viewed in Preston's Harris Museum.
Pre-Industrial Revolution
Historical evidence shows that the Ribble played a role by ancient and pre-medieval cultures in their conquest of Britain, with artefacts of Saxon, Roman and Viking origin recovered from the lands surrounding the river banks.
Records from medieval times show that Preston was already a trading port by the 12th century when a portmote (a type of court) would meet at regular intervals to give judgement on matters relating to the operation of the port, and increasing trade through the port was recorded from around the mid-14th century. Even in these early times, the Ribble suffered from silt deposits, and the first recorded instance of the river being dredged to improve passage dates to the 16th century.
18th century
The Industrial Revolution saw a boom in the textile industry in Lancashire and Preston was no exception; by the end of 18th century around a dozen large mills had sprung up across the town. Textiles were not Preston's only industry; the abolition of the town's royal charter in 1790 as a Guild Town permitted freedom of trade, and other manufacturing industries quickly began to emerge. New markets were soon found for these goods, with many being shipped to overseas destinations. There was also an ever-increasing influx of timber, coal and cotton for the town's mills and factories, food for its growing population, and later, wood pulp for the paper mills at the near-by town of Darwen.
Ships would come up-river to Preston to unload and shelter in a natural basin known in its time as 'Preston Anchorage', where the Moorbrook joined the Ribble, where the town's original docks were located. However, by the last decade of the 18th century the town's wharf facilities were already struggling to keep up with demand, with the shallowness of the river limiting ships - particularly larger ones- to around the time of high tides, and by loading and unloading facilities and storage warehouses built on marshlands surrounding the river banks which were prone to flooding.
19th century
In the early 1800s the Preston Consortium was founded which along with representation from the town council (which retained 30% ownership of the corporation) included some of Preston's largest private companies, to propose ways in which the river could be better used to facilitate trade. This led to the creation of the first Ribble Navigation Company in 1806, whose primary purpose was to commence a program of land reclamation and fixing the course of the river within training walls built along its banks. Construction of a new wharf commenced a few years later further downstream along the section of the river where Marsh Lane joined Strand Road. The new wharves, known as the New Quays (later renamed to Victoria Quay), opened in 1825. Construction commenced on supporting infrastructure with the Victoria Bonded Warehouse off Strand Road opening in 1843 and a number of shipyards built along the banks of the river. In 1846 a branch line was opened from Preston Railway Station to what was now Victoria Quay to provide a direct rail link to the docks.