The Collection

Granville Dock, by S. J. Mackie

One of the three docks comprising the Western Docks at Dover Harbour. The Western Docks at Dover was the principal commercial area of the harbour from the first early developments to the 1950s when the expansion of the car ferry terminal favoured the then new Eastern Docks terminal. Today the Western Docks is again seeing considerable usage, as a hoverport, cruise liner terminal and marina.

This watercolour is painted from the York Hotel and shows Custom House Quay, Strond Street and Snargate Street on the other side of the Basin (as Granville Dock was then known). The spires of Holy Trinity Church in Strond Street are also visible.

This church was built in 1835 on land reclaimed from the sea (and demolished in 1945, with the rest of Strond Street). The dog-leg in the basin, seen here with the remains of a ship on its slipway, was removed by the enlarging of the tidal harbour in 1844-46. In the nineteenth century, when this watercolour was painted, the harbour was expanding. The Admiralty Pier was being extended, and widened to make room for a new railway station. The arrival of the railways into Dover made the town and harbour busier than ever. The Western Docks underwent extensive improvement during this period. And part of this improvement meant an end to the scene pictured here. The shingle slipway in the foreground was removed and this area incorporated into the extended Tidal Harbour. The Crosswall (out of view to the left of this picture) was extended across the dock and ran straight across this picture, obscuring our view of road on the other side of the dock. The wooden dock walls were built up with stone.