Volume One - Into the Victorian Age - The graving dock and the growth of the coal trade . .

The view looking westward through the graving dock wall in 1864. The double inclined wall construction of the southern side of the dock with its coal tip arches are by any standard wonderfully impressive examples of our heritage masonry work. The other vertical walls were constructed with voided arch masonry features with an exposed face some 46 feet (14m) high.

Since the dock was an immediate success it required greater capacity for handling ships combined with a quicker turn around time, hence the impetus to extend the dock thereby removing the entire dock wall at the western end including the wonderfully robust masonry entrance to the graving dock. But finance and support was required.

A letter dated 4th August 1866 from the Plymouth Estate collection [018] demonstrates Lady Windsor’s strong interest in and involvement with the Penarth Harbour Company. The interest she had in this company, direct competitors to the Cardiff Docks, is the reason behind her opposition to the Bute Dock bills. It reads: “My dear Sir, Lady Windsor and the Trustees and the Penarth Harbour Company - Third Agreement - Undertaking to contribute £1000 plus the price of the land. I have written to Lady Windsor and also to Mr R C Herbert that at my request and on my promise to communicate the fact to them you signed the above undertaking this morning. I will have a copy of it made for you as soon as I hear that the Company are satisfied with it. I remain my dear Sir, Yours very faithfully, R. F. Burnett”

An advertisement (left) from the Railway Times of 23rd February, 1867 [349] indicates that the graving dock as illustrated above, awaits construction. The development never did occur and within two decades the priority for the management of the dock was the provision of more coal loading facilities and faster turn-round speeds for progressively larger and larger tonnages of shipping.