Post by Kev on Jun 18, 2004 12:44:45 GMT -5
Source- liverpool Echo....
HUNDREDS of years of Liverpool's history is being uncovered in archaeological digs in the city centre.
Researchers are discovering more about the city's rich maritime past as work starts on the £750m Paradise Street development.
Archaeologists have been investigating Liverpool's old dock beneath the NCP car park near Chavasse Park.
When it was built in 1715 it was the world's first commercial enclosed wet dock.
It meant that ships could load and unload regardless of tide, and catapulted Liverpool into becoming one of the world's greatest seaports.
In its heyday it would have been used by big sailing ships carrying raw cotton, spices, wine and pottery from far flung ports.
Future digs will take place around the city as work continues on the Paradise Street development.
Discoveries could be explained with display panels and ruins or finds could be exposed so people can see them from viewing platforms.
Merseyside archaeologist Sarah-Jane Farr said: "I think people will be excited to find out they are going to have the chance to see some of these things for themselves.
"People keep coming up to the hoardings to find out what we're doing. We want to preserve and protect what we discover."
So far archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology North, who are doing the dig, have uncovered three sides of the old dock, which is largely intact.
They have found the handmade bricks and pristine sandstone that made the dock walls two metres below ground level.
It was built by civil and maritime engineer Thomas Steer, cost £50,000, and changed Liverpool's future forever.
Ms Farr said: "It was one of the key elements that kicked off Liverpool's dominance in world trade, it kickstarted all the docks.
"It was the catalyst for the growth of Liverpool as a port and for the city to become a world player. It is rare and a national and international first."
By 1826 the dock had been filled in, eclipsed by the bigger docks that came after it.
HUNDREDS of years of Liverpool's history is being uncovered in archaeological digs in the city centre.
Researchers are discovering more about the city's rich maritime past as work starts on the £750m Paradise Street development.
Archaeologists have been investigating Liverpool's old dock beneath the NCP car park near Chavasse Park.
When it was built in 1715 it was the world's first commercial enclosed wet dock.
It meant that ships could load and unload regardless of tide, and catapulted Liverpool into becoming one of the world's greatest seaports.
In its heyday it would have been used by big sailing ships carrying raw cotton, spices, wine and pottery from far flung ports.
Future digs will take place around the city as work continues on the Paradise Street development.
Discoveries could be explained with display panels and ruins or finds could be exposed so people can see them from viewing platforms.
Merseyside archaeologist Sarah-Jane Farr said: "I think people will be excited to find out they are going to have the chance to see some of these things for themselves.
"People keep coming up to the hoardings to find out what we're doing. We want to preserve and protect what we discover."
So far archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology North, who are doing the dig, have uncovered three sides of the old dock, which is largely intact.
They have found the handmade bricks and pristine sandstone that made the dock walls two metres below ground level.
It was built by civil and maritime engineer Thomas Steer, cost £50,000, and changed Liverpool's future forever.
Ms Farr said: "It was one of the key elements that kicked off Liverpool's dominance in world trade, it kickstarted all the docks.
"It was the catalyst for the growth of Liverpool as a port and for the city to become a world player. It is rare and a national and international first."
By 1826 the dock had been filled in, eclipsed by the bigger docks that came after it.
