Built between 1844 and 1847, it is named after Lord Morpeth, the 7th Earl of Carlisle, who was the First Commissioner of Woods and Forests. The dock was opened in 1847, and the branch dock was built between 1866 and 1868. By 1872, the dock had been significantly remodelled with the branch dock and a canal basin for the GWR's goods station. Morpeth Dock Goods station was used by the GWR as the Birkenhead end of cross-river traffic to the Manchester Dock. Morpeth Dock provided berths for the Bibby Line, the Brocklebank Line, Holt and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, all of which worked to the Far East. The branch dock was too small for ships, and was used to site one of the Queensway Tunnel ventilation towers in 1934, along with a water pumping station in 1955. The pumping station later became a water treatment plant, now replacing the entire basin of the branch dock.
