Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory

The former Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL) is based in Brownlow Street, Liverpool, England. In April 2010, POL merged with the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) to form the National Oceanography Centre. The Liverpool laboratory's scientific research focuses on oceanography encompassing global sea-levels and geodesy, numerical modelling of continental shelf seas and coastal sediment processes. This research alongside activities of surveying, monitoring, data management and forecasting provides strategic support for the wider mission of the Natural Environment Research Council.

A leading world centre in tidal prediction (with related interests in earth tides and storm surges) and a leading European centre in modelling and forecasting shelf sea dynamics, it is home to the Coastal Observatory in Liverpool Bay, the National Tidal and Sea Level Facility, the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level and the British Oceanographic Data Centre.

The story of tidal measurements taken at Liverpool starts with Jeremiah Horrocks (1619–1641). He was one of the great scientists of the 17th century, and a man even Isaac Newton held in high regard. He is most famous for predicting, and then observing, the transit of Venus in 1639 at Much Hoole near Preston. However, he also had a great interest in understanding ocean tides, and in particular in verifying that tidal changes were closely related to variations in the Moon's orbit. Horrocks was born and died at Toxteth. Shortly before his death, he is known to have made measurements of high waters (probably the times and perhaps also the heights of high tide) on the Mersey coast near his home for at least a month. Unfortunately, his tidal measurements (but not his astronomical records) were lost in the civil war or possibly in the Fire of London.

A second major figure is William Hutchinson (1716–1801) who compiled the first extended set of sea level measurements in the UK, together with a comprehensive set of meteorological information. His measurements of the heights and times of every high water during 1764–1793 at the Liverpool Old Dock not only spanned many years but were of high quality and are still being used in scientific research today.

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