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 The docks at Ellesmere Port | The importance of canals
The history of Ellesmere Port, to the south of Liverpool on the other bank of the River Mersey, is linked with the building of canals in the region. The Ellesmere Canal was built from north Shropshire to the River Mersey to carry goods from that county and from North Wales. By the mid-1790s the name Ellesmere Port was being used for the area where the canal joined the Mersey.
Because this canal was only built for narrow boats it mean that vessels coming from the sea or local rivers had to unload their goods at Ellesmere Port so they could be transferred to narrow boats. This meant that docks and warehouses were needed.
In the 1830s and 1840s these facilities expanded (some of them designed by the famous engineer Thomas Telford) because of links which were made to other canals in the region. This meant that more goods were coming in and out.
Canals and railways
In the mid-1840s the Ellesmere Canal joined with other canals and railway companies to form the Shropshire Union Railway & Canal Company. The London and North Western Railway Company then took over this company and the dock facilities at Ellesmere Port.
A bigger canal
In 1892 a new wharf was built at Ellesmere Port because of the increase in traffic due to the building of the Manchester Ship Canal. Larger sea-going ships could use the new canal go further upstream.
In 1921 the docks were leased to the Manchester Ship Canal and this led to the decline of Ellesmere Port as a narrow canal port.
Today
The history of site can be seen at Ellesmere Port Boat Museum. Ellesmere Port is now the westerly point of a series of large industrial sites that came about because of the better access via the Manchester Ship Canal. The canal company encouraged industry to the site, for example it built Stanlow Oil Docks in 1922.
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