The Dock Tower
THE DOCK TOWER, ROYAL DOCK
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1379870
- Date first listed:
- 28-Apr-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Dock Tower
- Statutory Address:
- THE DOCK TOWER, ROYAL DOCK
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2005-05-06
- Reference:
- IOE01/14399/23
- Rights:
- © Dr Eric Ritchie. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1379870
- Date first listed:
- 28-Apr-1972
- List Entry Name:
- The Dock Tower
- Statutory Address 1:
- THE DOCK TOWER, ROYAL DOCK
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- THE DOCK TOWER, ROYAL DOCK
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- North East Lincolnshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TA 27844 11348
Details
GRIMSBY
TA2711SE ROYAL DOCK, The Docks
699-1/5/129 The Dock Tower
28/04/72
GV I
Hydraulic tower. 1851-2 by JW Wild for The Grimsby Dock
Company. Red brick with limestone ashlar plinth and ashlar cap
with iron lantern. Modelled on the Palazzo Publico at Sienna,
with an oriental-style minaret.
EXTERIOR: square section, approx 94m tall. 3 stages. Tall main
stage has rock-faced rusticated plinth, recessed board door to
east side beneath rubbed-brick arch, 6 tiers of 3 tall slit
lights to each side. Brass memorial plaque to west side
inscribed "1939 A TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO SWEPT THE SEAS 1949".
Stepped brick and ashlar string course. Splayed-out top
section above with deep imitation machicolations and tall
parapet with brick-coped pointed arched crenellations. Next
stage is a smaller version of the lower stage with a single
tier of 2 slit-lights to each side and a similar crenellated
head. Above this, a short octagonal stage with a round-headed
door to the balcony. Moulded cap with tall octagonal iron
lantern crowned by an openwork spire and finial. Contains
hydraulic gear which originally operated the gates to the
adjacent east and west locks (qv), and dockside cranes.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORY: this is the largest and architecturally most
distinguished hydraulic tower in the UK. The tower is one of
William Armstrong's earliest applications of hydraulic power,
and is believed to be the only hydraulics system of its type
to be built. It is important as a representative of the first
stage of hydraulic-power technology which operated on low
pressure, with the pressure being gained through height, from
an elevated water tank. It was superseded in 1892 by the
high-pressure hydraulic accumulator tower which stands nearby
to the west (qv). Together the 2 towers form a unique and
important survival of early hydraulic systems.
The tower is also a major landmark and seamark.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner N, Harris J, Antram N:
Lincolnshire: 1989: p343: London; Institute of Civil
Engineers: Civil Engineering Heritage: Labrum EA: Eastern and
Central England: London: 1994-: 52-4; A guide to the
Industrial Archaeology of Lincolnshire & S.Humbs: Wright NR:
Lincoln: 1983-: 16-18; University of Hull Publications:
Gillett E: A History of Grimsby: London: 1970-: 214-5; Ambler
RW: Great Grimsby Fishing Heritage: a brief for a trail:
Grimsby Borough Council: 1990-: 17-18, 20-22; Grimsby Borough
Planning Department: Action for Conservation: 1972-: NO.100).
Listing NGR: TA2784411348
This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 23 January 2017.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 479305
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Gillett, E, A History of Grimsby, (1970), 214-215
Wright, N R, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Lincolnshire, (), 16-18
Pevsner, N, John, H, The Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, (1964), 343
Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 23 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/51894
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 20-Jun-2026 at 07:29:20.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.