Penarth Dock, South Wales - the heritage and legacy

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Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The construction of the dock . . .

In 1853 a plan was proposed by John Batchelor (1820–1883) to make a dock by enclosing the entire bay from Penarth Head to the docks at Cardiff. This however, was considered to be too ambitious since the rivers Taff and Ely would have to be diverted by tunnel to Sully. Previously, in 1836, Mr. Isambard Kingdom Brunel had proposed a dock at Cogan Pill with an entrance into the tidal River Ely.

Subsequently, a new plan was devised and the Ely Tidal Harbour Bill and the Penarth Harbour, Dock and Railway Acts of 1856 and 1857, authorised the TVR to lease, for 999 years, a new dock, basin, tidal harbour and railway.

The tidal harbour, built at a cost of £137,000, opened on 4th July 1859 and was equipped with ten coal staithes and three steam ballast cranes. A contract was placed with Thomas G. Hardie for excavation and dredging the bed of the River Ely, opposite Cwtch-y-Cwm, during the years 1859-1862. [142] A visit to the works was reported within the Cardiff Times during August 1860 - << click link to read report >>

1859 - Dock - Penarth — 'Tenders will be received for the construction of a dock at Penarth, and a portion of railway leading thereto. Plans and specifications on and after 24th January, at Mr. Hawkshaw's, 33, Great George street, Westminster. — Tenders to 12th February.' - The Engineer [015] [499] 21st January 1859. + image above - The Building News [1079] [499] 14th January 1859.

Acts passed, company formed, contracts agreed and signed, excavation at the site of the new Penarth Dock, on the opposite bank of the River Ely, commenced in 1859. Stone was quarried locally at Cogan, Penarth and Llandough together with large quantities transported by rail from the Llandaff and Radyr quarries situated a few miles north of Cardiff. Radyr stone, a locally occurring stone, was generally used to construct the dock walls and ancillary buildings.

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