Alistair Hardaker | Image: National Museums Liverpool
Grade II listed Hartley Hut becomes a ‘micro-museum’ for waterfront visitors, complete with audio installation and new artwork.
An octagonal granite cabin dating back to 1844 has been opened to the public by National Museums Liverpool, its newest and smallest museum.
Hartley Hut is one of three cabins of its type on Liverpool’s waterfront. Its opening is part of National Museum Liverpool’s larger Waterfront Transformation Project, which spans the area between Royal Albert Dock and Mann Island.
All three huts were part of civil engineer Jesse Hartley’s dock development and served as shelter and watching point for Dock Gatemen who operated the lock gates.
Following a period of research and public consultation, the refurbishment of the hut was carried out by Liverpool architectural firm Harrison Stringfellow.
An audio installation at the new ‘micro-museum’ will play to visitors the real accounts and experience of the Liverpool Dock Gatemen who previously worked there.
The hut will offer panoramas across the docks and River Mersey, and a new artwork called ‘Ebb and Flow’ by mosaic artist Caroline Jariwala. The piece has been created with fragments found during the 2007 excavation in Manchester Dock, now the site of Museum of Liverpool.
“The Hartley Hut may not be a grand building in scale, but we believe it’s a real treasure among the architecture of the waterfront and that its stories will resonate with our visitors,” said Liz Stewart, head of Museum of Liverpool.
“Those with their own connection to the dock worker community, along with anyone who has a passion for history and what the built environment can reveal about our past, should make a trip to this wonderful new attraction on our waterfront.”
Hartley Hut will be open Tuesday to Sunday, and on Mondays during school holidays.
