Grimsby Dock Tower

Grimsby Dock Tower stands at the entrance to the Royal Dock in North East Lincolnshire. It is a hydraulic accumulator tower built in the 19th century to supply water pressure for machinery in the docks. The tower rises 94 metres above the ground and can be seen for several miles, even from villages on the north bank of the Humber estuary. Its design was inspired by the Torre del Mangia in Siena, with thick brick walls tapering from eight and a half metres at the base. The tower was completed in 1852 and required about one million bricks made from local clay. The tower’s purpose was to power cranes, lock gates and sluices at the Grimsby Docks. Water was drawn from a deep well near the present offices of the Grimsby Evening Telegraph and pumped to a 30,000-gallon tank at the top. The system used two ten-inch force pumps driven by a twenty-five horsepower engine made by Mr Mitchell of the Perran Foundry in Cornwall. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited in 1854 and ascended to the gallery for a view of Grimsby, Cleethorpes and the Humber estuary. Today the tower is Grade I listed and no longer supplies hydraulic power. Its lift is out of use, but visitors can climb a spiral staircase to the second balcony. The balcony now carries radio equipment, and a plaque honours the minesweeper crews of the Second World War. The tower remains a landmark and a reminder of the dock’s industrial past.