Chap. VIII.

BRITAIN.

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ship dock is 600 feet in length, and 200 feet in width, and will contain fifty-four sail ofsquare-rigged vessels, seventeen of which can lie at the quay at the same time.

The barge dock is 900 feet in length, and 150 feet in width, and will contain 200 sail.

The basin is 250 feet by 200 feet, has a depth of water of 19 feet, and the timberpond is calculated to contain 3000 loads.

The warehouses are capacious for bonding goods of all kinds: it was made a bondingport in the year 1828.

A canal unites Goole with Ferry Bridge , at which place it joins the river Aire, so thatFeeds and Wakefield are by this means connected.

Kingston-upon-Hull , was first made of importance by King Edward I. ; when he returnedfrom his expedition into Scotland , this monarch made inquiries concerning the depth ofthe river, the height to which the tides flowed, and afterwards sent for the Abbot of Meaux,who was lord of the soil, and exchanged some lands for what he possessed. The manor-house being converted into a palace, obtained for the town its royal appellation. A newharbour being formed in 1299, a charter was granted to the inhabitants of the borough,who constructed new walls around the town, 2610 yards in circuit, and of considerablestrength. From this period the commerce improved, and the merchants becamewealthy.

The old dock was the first constructed, an act for which was obtained in April, 1774.Previous to this period, the only harbour for vessels was that portion of the river Hullwhich extended from the North bridge to the end of the Garrison jetty, a distance of2940 feet, and the width a' high water of spring tides averaged about 165 feet; the total

HILL DOCKS.

area might be estimated it 11 acres, the depth of which was 22 feet. This harbour wasfound inadequate to the growing trade of Hull, as well as inconvenient, from the violenceof the stream some hours before low water preventing vessels from coming up; the fallbeing from 4 to 5 feet, from the outer end of the old dock basin to the harbour month, andthe velocity of the ebb from 3 to 4 miles per hour.

The old dock , formed under the superintendence of Mr. Grundy, the engineer, is in length1703 feet, and in width 2c4, containing an area of nearly 10 acres.

The walls are of brick, coped with stone from Bramley Fall; and in front, at every 10feet, are oak fenders, 9 by 7£ inches, tenoned into three oak sills, 12 inches hv 6; these are

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