Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - Report upon Penarth Dock - 1984 . . .

The date of 1884 placed on figure 5b is probably slightly inaccurate since the pitched slope on the south river bank was probably not added until the foreshore was partially reclaimed reclaimed in 1890. This does not, however, invalidate the text in any way. The distribution of the wall types and pitched slopes is taken from actual observation and photographs of the dock during construction.

Figure 6

The outline of the dock taken from a 1:2500 scale Ordnance Survey map. The vessels shown are approximately 300 feet in length, a fairly typical size for vessels using the dock in the 1900's. Note that these vessels are already too large to fit into the lock at Penarth Dock and by this time the dock is being used as a partly tidal dock with the lock rarely used for the passage of vessels. Also note that room exists at the fore and aft end of each vessel to allow them to be moved to fill holds near the extreme ends of the vessel.

Figures 7a and 7b

Figure 7a is slightly speculative in nature since they were derived from photographs of the dock under construction and most dimensions have been estimated.

Figure 7b originates from an issue of 'Engineering' dated July 15th 1898.

Figure 8

Figure 8 is also a speculative series of illustrations since most of what is shown never actually got implemented. The site of the graving dock is based on an overall outline appearing in a 1920 Taff Vale Railway Handbook and altered to show the original outline of the dock in 1865.

The size of the graving dock is based on the size of the lock, namely about 270 feet long although it is conceivably possible that if it had ever been built it would have been larger.

The front view of the entrance is taken from a photograph of the site taken during construction of the dock. The section through the entrance is mainly speculative except for the shape of the rear section of wall which is shown on photographs.