Liverpool - St George's Basin - Old Engraving



Liverpool - St George's Basin, 1841

This engraving captures how the Pier Head in Liverpool orginally looked when it was St. George's Basin.

The ships masts in the distance are docked in Prince's Dock.  Off picture to the right would be George's Dock.   The basin and George's Dock were drained in 1899 and the Three Graces of Liverpool's Pier Head began to appear starting in 1903.  The Church depicted is St. Nicholas which still stands, but is obscured from view by modern buildings.

 Standing at this spot today you would be looking at the Pier Head with the Ferry Building on your left and the Liverpool Museum and the Royal Liver Building hiding St. Nicholas Church.

From a Steel Engraving By W.H. Barflett & J.C. Armytage

Published by Geo Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, London, 1841

You can explore this area in detail on our FREE tour of the Pier Head on www.obelisktours.com

Tour description:  

"This FREE tour of Liverpool’s Pier Head unveils how this huge port became the world’s busiest trade centre and “one of the nineteenth century’s greatest success stories.”  As we wander around the Pier Head we will discover the history behind this area and its buildings as well as finding horses and kings, museums and memorials, a church and a vanished dock, a canal system and a tunnel."

Manchester - Old Engraving

The contrast in this image is stark with the quiet, rural scene in the foreground and the sprawling mass of early nineteenth-century Manchester in the background.  Country visitors to the area must have been either horrified to see the gobbling up of the countryside, or in awe at this huge, industralised machine.

This was an exciting time as the Liverpool to Manchester railway opened in 1830 - the very first inter-city railway.  Manchester had already grown tremendously, but the influence of the railways was a contributing factor to transform it even further.   In 1801 there was a population of around 88,577, by 1831 the population had jumped to  205,561, and thirty years later it was 398,611.

Drawn by G. Pickering.   Engraved by T. Higham

Published by Fisher, Son & Co., London, 1844

London - Monument - Old Engraving

The Monument to the Great Fire of London.  

Published by J & F Harwood, 26 Fenchurch Street, London.

To find the story behind this monument and the surrounding area you can take a self guided tour via our tour app on www.obelisktours.com

Liverpool - Princes Dock - Old Engraving



The Prince's Dock  c. 1840

This engraving depicts The Prince's Dock, which was Liverpool's first 19th Century dock opened in 1821.   The dock was named after the Prince Regent who became King George IV the same year the dock opened.

The Dock initially focused on North Atlantic Trade with North America.  Twenty years later it switched to South American and East Asian trade, and then by 1910 had moved to Irish trade.

This was the first dock to have security walls built around it to prevent theft. These walls can be clearly seen in this image.

By Harwood & F.R. Hay

London - St Pauls - Old Engraving

Original print is labelled as "St. Paul's Cathedral.  View of the Southern Front from Southwark Bridge."

Drawn by Hablot Knight Browne (famed illustrator for Charles Dickens and Harrison Ainsworth).  Engraved by B. Winkles (1801-1860) for Winkles Cathedrals.

London.  Published Sep 1, 1835 by Effingham Wilson, Royal Exchange

The area around the Cathedral can be discovered in our FREE tour around St Paul's Precincts available now on www.obelisktours.com