OLD DOCK THAT PUT CITY ON THE MAP...

Hidden historic landmark helped to shape much of Liverpool's success

- By JESS MOLYNEUX

IF you live or work in the city centre, taking a walk through the Liverpool ONE shopping centre may be part of your day-to-day routine.

But unbeknown to most, beneath your feet is an incredible 300-year-old dock that has been preserved, as well as the creek from which the city’s name derives.

Revealed during excavations over 20 years ago, Liverpool’s Old Dock was the world’s first commercial wet dock and was designed by civil engineer Thomas Steers.

First opening in 1715, it was constructed at the mouth of the Pool and was a key part of shaping Liverpool's future.

The creek which the dock was built on is a rare natural inlet coming in from the River Mersey. The Old Dock closed nearly 300 years ago and was buried for generations before Developers Grosvenor safeguarded it and made a portion of it publicly accessible.

Today, guided tours by National Museums Liverpool let visitors stand above the original brick and sandstone walls - still over 20ft high - and look directly into the place where Liverpool's shipping story began. An extraordinary piece of heritage that most people walk over every day without realising, the end of this month, August 31, marks the 310th anniversary of Liverpool's Old Dock.

Ahead of the anniversary, we spoke to Steph Mitchard, 36, who has been a tour guide for the last three years about the fascinating history that lies beneath our feet.

Steph, from Maghull, told the ECHO: “Up to 1700, we weren't really doing much as a place - Liverpool wasn’t even in the Domesday Book.

“It was really hard to navigate because the Mersey is such a difficult river and you've got tides that span over 11 metres, ever changing sandbanks. I think it was 1766 that we had a pilot system brought into place where you actually used one of the Liverpool boats to navigate you into the Mersey.