The site consisted formerly of a canal port which covered an area of acres (ha) which initially linked the Shropshire Union Canal with the River Mersey. It was designed by Thomas Telford under the direction of William Jessop and continued to function as a working canal port until the 1950s. The canal port consisted of a system of locks, docks and warehouses, together with a pump and engine room. A toll house was built in 1805. The Island Warehouse was built in 1871 to store grain.