Port of Grimsby

Port of Grimsby
View across No.3 dock slipways and No.1 dock to Dock tower and Humber (2007)
Location
Location	Grimsby
Coordinates	53°34′40″N 0°04′28″W / 53.5777798°N 0.0743294°W / 53.5777798; -0.0743294
Website www.portofgrimsby.com www.abports.co.uk

The Port of Grimsby is located on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire. Sea trade out of Grimsby dates to at least the medieval period. The Grimsby Haven Company began dock development in the late 1700s, and the port was further developed from the 1840s onwards by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) and its successors. The port has had three main dock systems:

The earliest dock, or Old Dock was developed in the 1790s, downriver from the medieval Haven, on the outfall of the same water course; in around 1880 it was expanded westwards, and renamed Alexandra Dock, being connected to the Royal Dock system by a short canal, named the Union Dock. From the 1880s the dock's focus was coal, later timber. From the 1970s onwards the dock has been used for large scale car importation.

The Royal Dock was developed from the 1840s onwards, contemporary with the arrival of the railway – it was built on a large area of land reclaimed from the Humber estuary northeast of the original town and harbour. The dock's trade has included a wide variety of goods including coal, timber and general merchandise.

The third dock system is the Fish docks, all of which exit(ed) from the same lock(s) onto the Humber close to and east of the Royal Dock lock. The first fish dock ("No.1") was built 1857, and expanded southward in 1878 with the addition of a second ("No.2"); both were built within the land reclaimed as part of the Royal Dock development. In 1934 a third fish ("No.3") dock substantially expanded the No.1 dock, and reclaimed additional land from the Humber. The Fish docks and nearby estate were devoted to the landing of fish, and maintenance, supply and repair of the Grimsby fishing fleet, which grew into one of the largest in Britain. The fishing industry collapsed in the 1970s due to outside factors.

The Grimsby Haven Company was re-incorporated as the Grimsby Dock Company, which amalgamated in 1846 with several railway companies into the MSLR, later known as the Great Central Railway (GCR). The GCR (and docks) became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) during the 1923 Grouping. In 1948 nationalisation formed the British Transport Commission from which British Transport Docks Board was split in 1962. Privatisation by the Transport Act 1981 formed Associated British Ports, the present owner of the port.