LIVERPOOL’S past is being explored by a team of archaeologists before work on the new Museum of Liverpool begins.

A dig is taking place in the Manchester Dock, Chester basin and quaysides on Mann Island.

It is hoped the excavation will reveal some of the city’s history. The dock was in use from 1785 until the 1920s when it was filled in using rubble from the construction of the Mersey tunnel.

It was originally used as a depot for barges of the Shropshire Union Canal Company and from the Great Western Railway.

In the 19th century, it played an important role in Liverpool’s import and export trade, handling coal and manufactured goods which were leaving the city and corn and cotton coming into Liverpool.

Archaeologists expect to find the dock walls, lock gates and associated buildings and dock fittings.

The Museum of Liverpool will be built by 2008 and open to the public in 2010. It will be housed in a new landmark building and cover the social history and popular culture of Merseyside.

The old museum, with its limited floor space, could no longer accommodate the more than 300,000 visits a year it was receiving.

The National Museums Liverpool’s outstanding collections, currently held in storage, will also by on display.

marymurtagh@liverpoolecho.co.uk