Major harbour enlargement 1859-63
However, Helsingør's harbour was still too small. In particular, it did not have sufficient capacity to meet the demand for a port of refuge during the winter. In 1847, the Harbour Committee proposed enlarging the harbour by means of excavations between the town and Kronborg's fortifications.

In the course of 1859, the plan for enlargement was approved by the Municipal Council and the Harbour Committee. The Ministry of Defence had consented to relinquish the requisite land which was formerly part of Kronborg's grounds. The Customs House was sold and demolished and the excavations for the harbour enlargement began.

By 29 April, all was ready for the barrage through to the rest of the harbour to be breached. During the course of the summer and autumn, the new dock of approx 200,000 square feet was dredged to a depth of 18 feet, with a bulwark of approx 2000 feet with the 20,000-pound crane set in a granite base; the north quay was moved some way back.
In April 1863 the harbour was handed over to the Royal Harbour Commission.

Map of the Port of Elsinore Harbour after the 1859-63 expansion. The old dock was significantly extended by the new excavations which diagonally bisected the site formerly occupied by the Øresund Customs House (see dotted lines). All that remained of the past glory was the great plane tree in the former garden. From Alléen, called Havnegade in the above, the idyllic Kronborgallé led up over the buttressed slopes or glacis to the castle itself. Between the town and Kronborg there were two wooden ships' yards, Barfoed's and Løve's and the newly built slipway in between (no 1 on the map). These were in due course merged with the Helsingør Jernskibsværft (iron vessel shipyard) and in 1878-86 the glacis was dug away right up to Kronborgs Kronværk (the crown works of Kronborg). Woodcut.

New times, new requirements
Helsingør now had the capacity to cater for the anticipated heavy demands of the steadily increasing numbers of ships which plied their way through the Øresund. With the larger harbour came significantly greater opportunities for repairing and building ships. However, the town now had a new problem: the age of the sailing vessel was drawing to a close, to be replaced by the age of the steam ship, a vessel with which the harbour was not designed to cope.

  

  History of the Port - part 1
  History of the Port - part 2
  History of the Port - part 3
  History of the Port - part 4
  History of the Port - part 5

 

For further details, service or information,
please contact Elsinore Port Office.