Archaeology

Oxford Archaeology North have been working in conjunction with British Waterways since 2006, carrying out a series of evaluations and archaeological excavations along the line of the proposed canal link. This work has been carried out with the co-operation of Balfour Beatty on the Pier Head, Edmund Nuttall at Mann Island and Pierse Contracting at Central Docks. This innovative civil engineering project has provided a unique opportunity to examine the archaeology and development of Liverpool's heritage waterfront.

The initial work on the Pier Head produced a large and exciting volume of new information about the way in which the land the was reclaimed from the river, and how the river and sea walls were constructed from 1750 onwards, as well as seeing the reopening of part of the Manchester Dock and Chester Basin. Small areas of George's Baths and George's Dock Basin were also uncovered as part of the public realm works.

Since the latter part of 2007 the construction work for the canal now extends to the south, around the edge of Mann Island, and to the north, through Princes, Waterloo and Trafalgar docks. With this progress has come further archaeological investigation.

At Mann Island a further section of the Manchester Dock (built in 1785) has been uncovered, where it survives beneath the foundations of the Great Western Railway building. Again the Manchester Dock is in excellent condition, constructed from pink ashlar sandstone blocks with numerous interesting features including the remains of a wooden pier. Mason marks carved into the face of the dock wall serve to remind us of the individuals who participated in the construction of this feat of engineering.

After the installation of a cofferdam and some substantial excavation works, both sides of a section of the Canning Dock wall are now exposed. This has allowed the archaeologists the unique opportunity to examine and record a dock wall, which is still currently in use as part of the functioning Canning Dock. The Canning Dock is built of a mix of yellow and pink sandstone blocks with a thin mortar bond and some of the blocks appear to have been recycled from an earlier structure. The wall is only one large course thick and this single course holds millions of gallons of water at bay. The rear of the wall is reinforced with a series of substantial stepped buttresses, which gives additional support. Both sides of the wall have been laser-scanned to add to the ongoing 3-D and GIS work undertaken by the archaeologists as they work towards building a complete record of Liverpool's historic waterfront.

In addition to this large sections of the original sea walls and their jetty's have been discovered, just metres below the modern ground surface and in excellent condition. The finds are consistent with life in a 19th century port and include pottery, butchered animal bone and clay pipes. All of this adds to the picture and tells us about the type of lives led by the people living and working around the waterfront at this time, adding detail to the social history of Liverpool.

At the other end of the canal link, work being carried out by Pierse has brought to light some of the later dock structure, as the Liverpool's dock system developed heading north along the waterfront. This includes an examination of Waterloo and Trafalgar Docks. These later docks are constructed in a different style and comparative analysis shows the way in which techniques of dock engineering changed over a hundred years. The walls are thicker with larger coping stones and the construction work is more regular, rather than the ad hoc construction and buttresses seen at the rear of the Canning and Manchester Docks. The lack of tip lines and sparse finds of pottery or clay pipe also tells archaeologists that this later phase of construction work was happening a lot more quickly. Material dredged from the river and quarry waste make up the bulk of the backfill in order to speed up the construction process at a time when space within the enclosed dock system was at a premium.

The completion of the Canal Link brings the promise of a new lease of life for Liverpool's World Heritage Waterfront and with it, a comprehensive knowledge of Liverpool's historic development, inextricably linking old and new in the year when the city takes it's place as Capital of Culture for 2008.