The site was formerly known as the Hartlepool South Docks: the last company to operate there was William Gray & Company,[1] which went into voluntary liquidation in 1964.[2] The docks then remained vacant and deteriorating until Teesside Development Corporation launched an initiative to convert them into a marina in the late 1980s.[3][4] The Lovell Partnership was appointed as the lead developer.[5] The new marina was opened by Queen Elizabeth II, who was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, in May 1993.[6][7]
The Seaton Carew Lighthouse was relocated to the marina in 1995 and dedicated to those who had died at sea in 1997.[8] Also in the 1990s, a statue of the monkey, formerly standing in West Hartlepool, was relocated to the marina to serve as a receptible for coins being collected for a local hospice.[9][10][11]
Meanwhile, the former graving dock, at the west end of the marina, was redeveloped as Hartlepool Historic Quay: it opened in July 1994 and became known as Hartlepool's Maritime Experience in April 2005 and was renamed the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Hartlepool in June 2016.[12][13]
