Gatehouses, Canning Half-Tide Dock

This drawing shows two of the three Gatemen’s Huts on the riverside entrance to the Canning Half-Tide Dock. The Piermaster's House is visible behind the second hut on the far left, there is a lock in the immediate foreground and the Wirral peninsula can be seen in the far distance. The huts were designed by Jesse Hartley (1780-1860), an engineer who built many of the Liverpool docks, including the Albert Dock. Originally trained as a stonemason, Hartley built functional docks and warehouses, which were also graced with his characteristic aesthetic touches. The cyclopean masonry designs on the huts resemble a fine jigsaw puzzle, a fanciful reminder of an unacknowledged beauty contrasted against the harsh environment of docks. The Policeman’s Lodge at Wapping Dock also bears Hartley’s incomparable masonry skill.