Monument record 7130 - Dungeon Salt Works

<1> Royden, Mike, 1992, Salt and the Rise of Liverpool. The Dungeon (Web Site). SCH6958.

The earliest reference to saltworking at this site is from a letter written in 1697 by Thomas Johnnson to Richard Norris of Speke Hall regarding accomodation of Custom officers at the "establishment at Dungeon". Johnson was known to be a salt refiner and probably the original owner of the Dungeon Saltworks.
Dungeon was one of three 18th century saltworking sites on the Mersey estuary chosen for their proximity to the Lanacashire coalfield and links by river to the rocksalt mines of mid cheshire. There was also one at Frodsham and Liverpool.
The saltworks appears to have fallen out of use in the late 1840's. This may have been due to the silting up of the Mersey but also competition from the larger salt refinery at Liverpool ( relocated to Garston in 1798).
By the late 19th century the site was a shipbreakers yard but the silting of the river channels caused its closure in 1912. The site is also known to have been used as a concrete works and a fireworks factory. Triangular concrete coastal defences were placed here during the second world war.

The remains of the Wharf wall can be clearly seen together with the foundations of the saltworks. In the late 1980s, erosion revealed a pair of underground brick chambers.

<2> North Western Society for Industrial Archaeology and History, 1990, Hale Cliff Wharf Draft Report (Unpublished Report). SCH6902.

Investigations by the North West Society for Industrial Archaeology and History (now renamed the Merseyside Industrial Heritage Society) uncovered a circular brick chamber and sections of a quay wall in this area which were part of the saltworks known at this site since the late 17th century. The circular chamber is believed to have been used to hold rocksalt and water which would have produced a brine solution for use in open pan saltmaking

<3> c.1840, Tithe Map for Hale (Maps and Plans). SCH6959.

The Tithe map for Hale c.1840 shows buildings and reservoirs marked as Dungeon Salt works

<4> Ordnance Survey, 1842-1893, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 6 inch to 1 mile - Lancashire (Maps and Plans). SCH3844.

The 1881 6 inch to 1 mile Lancashire Ordnance survey map show the site still named as Dungeon Saltworks with reservoirs and buildings marked

<5> Ordnance Survey, 1893-96, Ordnance Survey County Series (Epoch 1) 25 inch to 1 mile - Lancashire (Maps and Plans). SCH3847.

The 1893 25 inch to 1 mile 1st edition Lancashire Ordnance Survey map shows the site now marked as Hale Cliff Stone works and shows reservoirs and buildings on the site and also now an inclined plane and railway leading to the quayside

<6> Archaeological Research Services Ltd, 2011, North West Rapid Coastal Zone assessment (NWRCZA): Final SMP2 Version, p.80 (Client Report). SCH6414.

Dungeon Lane saltworks and an associated nearby
wharf were built at the end of the 17th century where four pans, of sandstone, were
constructed to refine salt from rock salt and salt water. The site is an extremely wellpreserved
example of an post-medieval saltwork and is one of the sites that supplied salt
to the developing port of Liverpool.

<7> Archaeological Research Services Ltd, 2012, North West Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment: Phase 2: Project Report (Client Report). SCH8451.

The field survey recorded the remains of the saltworks as consisting of a small quayside or wharf (148), with a salt chamber and various eroding sections of buildings (198). The wharf (148) is constructed of well-coursed dressed red sandstone blocks (c.0.8m x 0.2m x 0.4m) and runs for a length of c.65m with a slight dogleg at c.25m (Figs 3.19 and 3.20). It stands to a height of c.1.8m at its eastern extent rising to c.2.25m to the west.

<8> Various, Written Communication to the HER (Written Communication). SCH3756.

A previously unrecorded length of stone wall, exposed by erosion, was reported to the HER in June 2018. The length of sandstone wall estimated to be an additional 90 metres, continuing across the the area containing the salt chambers