The South West Prospect of Liverpoole, in the County Palatine of Lancaster

The Buck brothers were topographical draughtsmen who produced over 80 engravings of British towns. This panoramic image shows Liverpool as a thriving port whose growth owed much to the transatlantic slave trade in the early 18th century.

The River Mersey had a 30-foot tidal range with dangerous fast currents and ferocious westerly winds. Thomas Steers (1672 - 1750) was commissioned to build the world’s first wet dock, the Old Dock, in 1715 to accommodate Liverpool’s growing trade and provide shelter for the ships. It is situated behind the wooden jetty, near glass-making factories, sugarhouses and kilns. St Nicholas’s Church, a constant feature in Liverpool’s landscape over many centuries, is on the left.