Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - A History of Penarth Dock by Roy Thorne . . .

The following figures show the growth of trade handled by the T.V.R. and the Bute Docks between the years 1844 and 1865. [614]

The increasing demand for Welsh coal brought larger ships, and by 1851, the dock could not cope with the traffic. It was common for ships to wait in Penarth Roads for a week until a berth was available.

In 1851 the Bute Trustees decided to build another dock, the East Dock. The construction of this dock began in 1852 by Messrs Hemingway, Bros. and Pearson, and the first section was completed by July 1855. Even before this date it was obvious that the new dock could not cope with the rapidly increasing trade, and it was decided to build extensions which were completed in 1858 and 1859. The Rhymney Railway were given more favourable terms at the East Dock than the T.V.R. had on the West Dock.