Monument record 11010 - Hulk assemblage of Mersey Flats at the Old Port basin, Chester

First constructed in 1802, the Dee Basin continued in use throughout the 19th century and into the start of the 20th century. In the 1950s, however, following the demise of the ship building industry and the port of Chester itself, the basin was largely infilled and subsequently built over. One of the main materials used in the land reclamation process was former barges and flat boats, of which the location of approximately 33 are known.

A series of archaeological investigations in the basin in 1996 identified one of these sunken vessels. The Earl was a barge first commissioned in 1802 as a flat rigged, square sterned vessel, it was built of oak with its frames at aft and fore ends. It was converted to canal use in the early 1820s.

The excavations recorded the bow of the Earl and established the precise location of its stern at a depth of 3m below present ground level. Several well preserved timber were also identified. (2)

<1> Chester Archaeology, 1991-2009, The Past Uncovered, Winter, 1996 (Newsletter). SCH4495.

<2> Emery, Mike, 1996, Excavation Archive: Chester Dee Basin. The Old Port Redevelopment (Excavation Archive). SCH5390.