History
The ‘Quay of Mostyn’ (now the Port of Mostyn) has featured significantly in the ebb and flow of British history during successive centuries of change.
Mostyn merited a mention in the Norman Doomsday Book of 1086.
Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV) disembarked at Mostyn Quay in 1399 before wresting the Crown from Richard II at nearby Flint castle.
In 1485 Henry Tudor eluded capture at Mostyn Hall by Richard III, escaping by boat using Mostyn Quay. History tells us he later went onto to defeat Richard III at Bosworth Field.
Then he became King, as Henry Tudor he bestowed upon Lord Mostyn, in recognition of his valuable support, the foreshore and its mineral rights from Llynegar to Llanerch-y-Mor, a stretch of coastline either side of the port and extending out into the estuary for about one mile. Extensive coal mining took place under this area until the late 1800’s.
A later event of historical significance in the story of Mostyn was the landing in 1643 of the Royalist troops from Ireland during the English civil war. From Mostyn they marched on to the besieged Flint castle.
Coal was also mined within the port complex, and in 1816, to keep pace with the demand and to better facilitate the shipment of coal in larger vessels, Lord Mostyn commissioned none other than the renowned engineer Thomas Telford to devise modernisation plans for the quay.
The project included an extension of the wooden quays with rails and coal-loading gantries along its length. These works were carried out over a 6-year period and at a cost of a total of £4,709-15s-2d to complete, not an inconsiderable sum of money in its day.
Mostyn Coal and Iron Company
Iron production commenced at Mostyn in the mid 1800’s. The combination of a colliery, iron works and a dock made the whole enterprise extremely successful.
In its hey-day this company employed 1,900 people and exported the finished steel products worldwide through the Mostyn Quay (now The Port of Mostyn).
The ironworks closed down in 1965, but the Port continued to operate as an independent commercial entity, handling a variety of cargoes such as timber, finished steel, animal feeds, fertilizer, aggregates and cement for the region’s agriculture and manufacturing industries.
21 Century Port
The modernisation of the Port has been carried out progressively over the last 20 years. Extensive works were required in order to provide a lock free access to the Port and to accommodate larger and longer vessels.
This has been achieved with the construction in 1998 of a 120 metre long riverside quay with 6.5m water depth alongside at low tide; an additional 0.8 hectares of land adjacent to the berth was also developed for cargo storage.
This development increased the size of vessels the Port could accommodate from about 3,000 dwt up to 7,000 dwt whilst remaining afloat at all states of the tide.
In 2001/2002 a second phase of port development was undertaken by the construction of a 190 metre extension of the riverside quay together with a 170 metre long Roll on – Roll off berth and a further seven hectares of tarmac storage area.
Since 2004 extensive areas of hard-standing have been developed for the offshore windfarm construction projects.
These include ground reinforcing for cranes up to 1,300 tonne capacity, turbine components storage and fitting-out bays together with 28,000 sq. ft. of final assembly workshops.
A four berth marina for windfarm service vessels has also been provided to support the maintenance base operations for the North Hoyle and Rhyl Flats windfarms.
History Gallery
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