The 2nd Marquis of Bute owned large areas of mineral rights in the South Wales valleys. Some had been leased and coal was being mined at great profit. He decided it was time he did the same.
One major obstacle was getting the coal to market. The Glamorganshire Canal was already over-crowded. The Marquis also owned land in Cardiff and an Act of Parliament in 1830 gave consent for him to build “The Bute Ship Canal”
The new dock was 4000 feet long and 200 feet wide with an entrance lock 47 feet wide. Expenditure for construction was £338,000 (around £45m today).
The dock was opened on 9 October 1839 to great celebrations.
Taff Vale Railway Company took a lease from 1841 bringing railway lines down the east side of the dock to handle the export of iron and coal from Merthyr Tydfil.
The west side was for warehousing and the import trade.
Coal shipments started at an annual 43,651. By 1854 total trade was 1.33m tons and an average of 130 ships a week were being handled.
The dock had become congested.
More space was needed.
