Description

GRIMSBY

TA2711SE ROYAL DOCK, The Docks
699-1/5/130 Hydraulic Accumulator Tower to west
31/10/74 of the Dock Tower
(Formerly Listed as:
THE DOCKS
Tower on opposite pier to west of
main Dock Tower)

GV II*

Hydraulic accumulator tower. 1892 for The Grimsby Dock
Company. Red-brown brick with ashlar dressings.
EXTERIOR: square tower 78 ft tall. Single stage. Round-headed
door to south side. Each side has a full-height panel with
chamfered brick reveals to the bottom and sides and a
dentilled and chamfered cornice to the top. Each panel
contains 4 tiers of narrow twin round-headed openings with
stone sills, chamfered jambs and rubbed-brick arches. One of
the second-tier openings on the west side has C20 blocking.
East and west sides have small single stone panel between and
below the second tier of openings, and a central vertical row
of iron fixing bolts. Stone band. Top section with imitation
machicolations and brick-coped parapet with pointed arched
crenellations, the corner ones with ashlar caps.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORY: this accumulator tower was built to provide
high-pressure hydraulic power to move the gates to the east
and west locks to the Royal Dock (qv), and to power dockside
machinery. It largely superseded the earlier Dock Tower (qv).
The design of its cap echoes that of the earlier tower. It was
superseded in 1980 by an electrically-driven oil-hydraulic
system.
Together, this accumulator tower and the earlier Dock Tower
form a unique and important survival of early hydraulic
systems, illustrating the development in hydraulic power
technology from low-pressure to high-pressure operation.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N, Harris J, and Antram N:
Lincolnshire: London: 1989-: 343; A guide to the Industrial
Archaeology of Lincolnshire & S.Humbs: Wright NR: Lincoln:
1983-: 16-18; Ambler RW: Great Grimsby Fishing Heritage: a
brief for a trail: Grimsby Borough Council: 1990-: 21-22).

Listing NGR: TA2779211379

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533423

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)