This new museum tells the story of Liverpool with diverse exhibits housed in a stunning building.
Follow us online:
This new museum tells the story of Liverpool with diverse exhibits housed in a stunning building.
Gallery details
The Great Port gallery is now open as part of phase two of the opening of the Museum of Liverpool.
New gallery - now open!
Discover how Liverpool transformed from a small tidal inlet to the world's greatest ports in The Great Port Gallery. Pioneering the world's first commercial wet dock in 1715, the city was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution. It led the way with new technological developments including early canals, the first timetabled passenger railway, and the world's first elevated electrified railway line.
The gallery will look at the development of the dock system and its impact on city infrastructure and employment. It will explore how the city expanded due to the opportunities of the Industrial Revolution and development of world trade.
Communication and transportation were key to Liverpools 19th century success and the city was at the centre of new technological developments, as shown by the building of the first managed wet dock in the world in 1715, the continuing development of those dock technologies and the opening of the 1830 Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first inter-city railway in the world. Key exhibits will include Lion, the famous 1838 steam locomotive, as the centrepiece of the section following the impact of the industrial revolution.
The gallery will also explore stories about the people living and working underneath the rails of the Liverpool Overhead Railway, or the Dockers Umbrella, which is visible suspended above the gallery to suggest its working height.
The displays within The Great Port include:
Lion railway locomotive