The lost dock of Liverpool
A Time Team Special
First screened 21 April 2008
In this section: Liverpool home | Background | The first dock | Liverpool and the slave trade | Find out more
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Liverpool – city of empire
A century ago, in 1908, when work began on one of Liverpool's most famous landmarks, the Royal Liver Building on the city's Pier Head, the 90-metre, 13-storey building dominated the waterfront of Britain's greatest port. It was at the maritime heart of the biggest empire the world had ever seen. At one stage, it is estimated that as much as two-fifths of the world's trade passed through Liverpool – including, during the two decades before its abolition in Britain, three-quarters of the transatlantic slave trade.More about Liverpool »
The first dock
Close to Liverpool's Pier Head is a 42-acre retail-led regeneration project, the Paradise Project, named after the newly-pedestrianised Paradise Street. It was here, in 1709, that construction began on Liverpool's first dock – and the modern-day development of the site provided archaeologists with a unique opportunity to uncover the remains of that revolutionary structure.
Close to Liverpool's Pier Head is a 42-acre retail-led regeneration project, the Paradise Project, named after the newly-pedestrianised Paradise Street. It was here, in 1709, that construction began on Liverpool's first dock – and the modern-day development of the site provided archaeologists with a unique opportunity to uncover the remains of that revolutionary structure.
Liverpool and the slave trade
It has been calculated that between 1700, when the Blessing and the Liverpool Merchant began the first recorded slave trading voyages by Liverpool ships, some 5,300 slaving voyages were made from the city's port. This compared with 3,100 voyages from London and 2,200 from Bristol. Since the three ports between them accounted for more than 90% of all slaving voyages from British ports, it means that Liverpool alone was responsible for almost half of the slave trade from these shores.
It has been calculated that between 1700, when the Blessing and the Liverpool Merchant began the first recorded slave trading voyages by Liverpool ships, some 5,300 slaving voyages were made from the city's port. This compared with 3,100 voyages from London and 2,200 from Bristol. Since the three ports between them accounted for more than 90% of all slaving voyages from British ports, it means that Liverpool alone was responsible for almost half of the slave trade from these shores.
Time Trial
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