Glasson Dock
| Glasson Dock | |
|---|---|
 The lock at Glasson Dock |
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 Glasson Dock
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| Glasson Dock shown within Lancashire | |
| OS grid reference | SD443561 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LANCASTER |
| Postcode district | LA2 |
| Dialling code | 01524 |
| Police | Lancashire |
| Fire | Lancashire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| EU Parliament | North West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Glasson Dock, also known as Glasson, is a village in Lancashire, England, south of Lancaster at the mouth of the River Lune. In 2011, it had a population of around 600.
Before becoming a dock, Glasson was the site of small farming and fishing community, known as Old Glasson and Brows-saltcote. Directly across the river from Glasson lies the village of Overton.
Due to the difficulty of navigation up the Lune to the docks in Lancaster, the Lancaster port commission decided to build a dock at Glasson in 1779. They purchased land in 1780, and by 1782, a pier had been constructed, but there were problems and the west wall began to bulge. In August 1782, the commissioners asked Henry Berry, who was employed as the engineer for the Liverpool docks, to arbitrate in the dispute with the contractor, and to design a dock, to be located by the pier. Berry was unable to do so, as he was so busy, and so the engineer Thomas Morris was asked instead. He produced plans in November 1783, for a project which involved rebuilding the bulging wall, and the construction of another short pier from the opposite bank of the river, so that gates could be fitted between the two. The estimated cost was £2,700, and Mr. Fisher was appointed as the new contractor, with Morris acting as engineer for a salary of £100 per year. Construction was finished by March 1787, when the dock opened, with Morris remaining as engineer until December. The dock was well equipped and could hold up to 25 merchant ships.
With construction of the Lancaster Canal starting in 1792, thought was given to a connection between it and the sea, and John Rennie's plans for a Glasson branch formed the basis for an Act of Parliament which was obtained in May 1793. No work took place, and it was not until 1819 that the plans were revived, when another Act of Parliament was needed to raise additional finance. The estimated cost of the branch was £34,608, and work began in 1823. The 2.5-mile (4.0 km) branch dropped through 52 feet (16 m) from Galgate, and the basic engineering was completed in December 1825, but financial difficulties meant that warehousing and wharves could not be constructed at first, and so the build-up of trade was slow. However, by 1830 over 10,000 tons of goods passed through the dock, most of it passing on to the canal. Because the locks were 14 feet (4.3 m) wide, smaller ships did not have to tranship their cargoes to canal boats, as they could sail through the dock and along the canal. The first such boat to do so was a schooner called Sprightly, which carried slate to Preston in May 1826. Incoming trade included slate, timber, potatoes and grain, while coal was exported through the port to Ulverston, North Wales and Ireland.
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