Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The dock extension of 1883 . . .

Dock Extension at Penarth - 'On Wednesday Sir John Hawkshaw, the engineer employed to superintend the extension of the dock at Penarth, visited the ground, accompanied by Mr. George Fisher, traffic manager of the Taff Vale Railway Company, and made survey preliminary to the commencement of the work.' - Engineering - [516] 29th July 1881.

During the work over a million cubic yards was dug from the Penarth Head. The inclined wall on the southern side of the dock with its coal tips was copied for the extension.

A compromise reached, a Bill was put forward to extend the dock which received Royal assent in June 1881. Work commenced in November, and the extension was opened by Lord Windsor, whom, by now, was the Earl of Plymouth, on 9th April 1884. The cost was an additional £150,000 making the total investment in excess of £1m.

However, the voided masonry arched quay walls of the original dock were not adopted for the extension on the north quay wall but 13 feet (4m) thick solid walls with a continuation of the exposed face 46 feet high (14m) high were constructed.

At the southern end, an inclined wall was built as may be seen in the above enlarged section of the c.1900 OS map. Also a section of the 1882 plan of Bute Docks, Cardiff which includes Penarth Dock.

The extent of congestion at Penarth Dock was expressed within a letter to the Editor of the South Wales Daily News during June 1883 by a 'Visitor' : -

Penarth Dock. To The Editor. - Sir, - 'I have read a good deal of the congested state of the dock room at Cardiff lately. Being on a visit to Penarth, and looking over the panoramic view from the headland there, I was struck with the appearance of the dock.

I could scarcely see any water at all. In the middle of the dock there were nine large vessels abreast. You could scarcely put the proverbial pin in between them. I counted 28 vessels in the dock proper, and eight, including the dredger, in the basin.