Early history Grimsby's development as a landing place and town has an underlying basis in the area's geography – the combination of relatively high ground (compared to surrounding land) of over , near to the Humber, and close to a water outfall (
The Haven). Grimsby has been documented as a landing place dating to at least the
Viking Age. According to 19th century writers Grimsby was referenced in medieval histories as the landing place of marauding Danish armies. The haven is also reputed to be the landing place of the semi-legendary figures Grim and Havelok in the town's founding myth,
Havelok the Dane (written ). In the second year of the reign of
King John (12th century) he visited the town and conferred on its inhabitants the right that
"they should be exempt from toll and lastage, stallage, moorage, haustage, and passage, in every town and seaport throughout England, except the city of London ..", the town was also granted the right of a ferry in the same year.
Henry III granted the town a ferry across the Humber, as well as a charter of merchandise. Records of trade with Scandinavian countries date to the 11th century, with furs, wool, and falcons being traded. Importation of pine and oil from Norway is recorded from the early 13th century; grain was exported. Fish and fishmongery in Grimsby are well documented as a part of trade and business from at least the late 12th century, and continued as important until the 16th century. In the 13th century, the people of Grimsby came into dispute with the people of the then-thriving port town of
Ravenserodd over the alleged 'hijacking', either by persuasion or force, of trade intended for Grimsby to the port of Ravenserodd. An inquisition into the rivalry was held in 1290 by order of
Edward II. Later, during Edward II's war with France, the Mayor and bailiffs were commanded to equip Grimsby ship, place them under the command of James Kingston, and then patrol the coast of eastern England, capturing and impounding any French or allied vessels. The Haven and was prone to silting, and in 1280 proposals were made to divert the
River Freshney to scour the harbour. By 1341, a new haven, the
West Haven had been constructed, and in the same period work was underway to divert and use the Freshney to scour the West Haven. Parts of the haven are now listed structures, The dock works were carried out under the shield of a coffer dam outside the new lock, with extensive use of piling under the lock and wall constructions. Use of piles was attempted under the lock pit bottom but the ground was too fluid for this to be successful and an inverted arch was employed instead Further expansion was required, and a further act, the (
39 Geo. 3. c. lxx) was obtained, which allowed the construction of an expansion of the dock of . The expansion was completed in 1804. In the 1920s a replacement bridge across the dock (
Corporation Bridge) was constructed to the design of Alfred C. Gardner, docks engineer of the
LNER, constructed by
Sir William Arrol & Co. (Glasgow). The bridge consists of four spans, one of which is an electrically powered lifting section on the
Scherzer rolling lift principle. The bridge was formally opened by the Prince of Wales (
Edward VIII) on 19 July 1925. The bridge was listed in 1999. The shed was authorised 1890 at a cost of £23,500 and contracted to Pearson and Knowles (Warrington). A new hydraulic coal hoist and sidings were added to the south-west side of the dock in the last years of the 19th century at a cost of £11,000 – the installation became operational in 1899. In 2013
DONG Energy selected the Royal Dock as an operation and maintenance centre for the
Westermost Rough Wind Farm. As part of the agreement new pontoons and lock gates were to be installed. In 2014 the lock gates at the dock were replaced by contractor Ravestein (
Netherlands). The conversion away from gates partially supported by buoyancy lifted the opening restrictions to times of high water, allowing 24hr operations. The floating pontoon berth was sited in the north-east corner of the dock, at the site of the (1966) roll-on/roll-of ramp. The operations and maintenance centre was to be sited adjacent to the berth on the north-east corner of the quayside. Parts of the dock's wall, The Fish Docks consist of a number of docks sharing common lock entrances, east of the Royal Dock, built and expanded in stages from the mid 19th century onwards.
No.1 Dock (1857–) The first fishing dock (later No.1 Fish Dock) was authorised in late 1854, and the construction contract awarded to Sissons at £6,996; the dock was completed early 1856. It was constructed to the east of the Royal Dock, and incorporated the floodgates of the original cofferdam at lock gates. The dock's lock was with a depth at high spring tides of . As built the dock's sides were of chalkstone covered sloped clay at with a 1 in 3 rise, at the south side a timber wharf was built, which was rail connected by a sunken line allowing direct loading of wagons from the wharf. A timber pier was built to the east of the dock's entrance. The dock was built at a cost of £12,000, with a water area of approximately . An ice house and worker's housing were also built in the 1850s to support the industry. The Fish Dock was extended in 1866; doubling the dock's area. A second lock and further quay space and warehousing were contracted to
Logan and Hemingway, ; the firm also received the contract for a graving dock, valued at £15,000 in 1872. The pier at the dock was lengthened in 1873. The lock and graving dock were operational by 1875. The fish market on the dock was destroyed by fire in June 1918. Reconstruction work on the fish market continued through 1922 to 1923. In 1934 a new dock, No.3, was opened, contiguous with No.1, expanded the water area of by
No.2 Dock and Humber Cruising Association (1878–) In 1876
Logan and Hemingway were awarded a £23,000 contract for an expansion from the first fish dock. The No. 2 Fish Dock was opened in 1878, connecting at the south end of the extended No.1 Fish Dock. operates a marina (
Meridian Quay Marina) using the northern half of No.2 dock. The marina is used by members of HCA, as well as having some moorings for around 20 visitors. HCA has hard-standing for yachts, a
travel hoist, a fuel berth as well as a club house and bar. The club was first incorporated as a limited company in March 1994.
No.3 Dock (1934–) A need for an additional fish dock was seen from the early 20th century – the
Great Central Railway (GCR) obtained an act, the
Great Central Railway (Grimsby Fish Dock) Act 1912 (
2 & 3 Geo. 5. c. clxv) for a fish dock in 1912; the dock was to extend No.1 dock to the east onto land reclaimed from the Humber. In 2013 as part of the arrangements to bring E.on to the dock, the dock's lock gates were modernised. In 2014
E.on opened an operations and maintenance base for its
Humber Gateway Wind Farm. In 2015 work to refurbish the 1935 boat repair slipways was initiated.
Grimsby Fish Market (1996–) In 1996 a new fish market (
Grimsby Fish Market) was built on reclaimed land on a former fish dock (No.1).
Union Dock (1879–) The Union Dock was designed as a short canal from the end of the Royal Dock to inner of the Old Dock. In 1903 the company submitted amended plans to replace the previous consented dock at Grimsby with a new construction at Immingham, Construction was undertaken by Graham construction. The terminal consisted of an approach jetty approximately long; a floating concrete pontoon of , deep weighing over 7,000 ton; a linkspan bridge connecting the pontoon to jetty; and a finger pier dividing the two berthing positions. The installation was constructed using 165 tubular steel piles between diameter, up to long. The terminal was completed and commissioned on 22 July 2013. The first vessel to dock at the terminal was the
MV Ems Highway in July 2013. Official opening took place in September 2013.
Marine Control Centre (2015–) In 2016 ABP, in its role as
Statutory Harbour Authority for the Humber Estuary and for the ports of Immingham, Grimsby, Hull and Goole, began work on relocating its Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) centre at
Spurn Point to a new Marine Control Centre in Grimsby, following deterioration of road access to Spurn. The new control centre was to be located at the northern edge of the docks, between Royal and Fish docks. ==Port employment, trade and tonnage==