Originally Posted by
dazza
Liverpool Fort (c.1781-1820) was sited close to George's Dock. It is clearly shown on the maps below. I've also highlighted the only image I could find of it, which is from a Michael Angelo Rooker engraving of the Mersey and Liverpool.
The Fort stood on the site from 1781-1820. It was equiped with 'eighteen and thirty-two pounders', source: also Richard Brooke's Liverpool As It Was During the Last Quarter of the Eighteenth Century, pp.371. Also, Dr William Moss, writing in, The Liverpool Guide, goes further to say that 'a strong guard of soldiers is always kept here. It is open for public recreation...[affording]...a very adventageous view down the river...from which point the rock point may be very distinctly observed'. pp.83
Hi Daz
Fine information, maps, illustrations, and analysis as usual, Daz! Well done.
The 32-pounders and 18-pounders would have been usual for coastal defense in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. In fact, Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor was protected by similar guns in the fort itself and in nearby batteries when Baltimore was attacked by the Royal Navy in September 1814. The bigger and longer guns, 36-pounders, were actually from a French warship French warship named the L'Eole that had been wrecked off the coast of Virginia some years before and recently sold at auction. Mounted in the fort's water battery, they kept most of the British attack squadron at bay, with only the British bombships able to lob mortar shells at the fort a distance of two miles (!) during the 25-hour bombardment. See also this blog posting on Fort McHenry -- the cannons at the fort today are misleading because they are larger Rodman coastal defense cannons dating from the 1870's. The 1814 water battery though has been recently recreated with replicas of the long French 36-pounders.
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Originally Posted by
wsteve55
.... the couple of times that I visited the reserve,you couldn't help notice the very substantial foundations(many feet thick!) of something I rightly,or wrongly,guessed was for some sort of military type building,such as a fort! I'd read of such a building,which was complementary to the fort in New Brighton,for defence of the river approaches.
I had a quick look on google maps,and it's apparent that there have been some major changes to the shoreline,during the history of the docks development,and the general area around Seaforth,seems to involve a large reclaimed area.
Thanks, Steve. You could be onto something.
Originally Posted by
Ged
The french Napoleonic prisoners of war of course built part of the dock road wall.
According to Brooke's book, the French prisoners of war were kept captive in the Tower during the late 18th century and early 19th century... there were a few Americans in there as well.
Cheers
Chris
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