[3] Historical evidence shows that the Ribble played a role by ancient and pre-medieval cultures in their conquest of Britain, with artefacts of Saxon, Roman and Viking origin recovered from the lands surrounding the river banks.

[8] Ships would come up-river to Preston to unload and shelter in a natural basin known in its time as 'Preston Anchorage', where the Moorbrook joined the Ribble,[a] where the town's original docks were located.

This led to the creation of the first Ribble Navigation Company in 1806, whose primary purpose was to commence a program of land reclamation and fixing the course of the river within training walls built along its banks.

Following redevelopment of the former Preston Dock, greater emphasis has been placed upon the role that Riversway and the Albert Edward Basin play in the community's leisure and lifestyle, and the area has hosted several significant events: The Albert Edward Basin is 3,000 feet (910 m) long by 600 feet (180 m) wide[c] and covers an area of around 42 acres (17 ha), and provided over 1.8 km (1.1 mi) of quayside for loading and unloading vessels.

The cost of building the basin and operating the docks (including on-going dredging of the river) proved a financial burden, and in its 90-year history the port only reported a profit on 17 years.

This began a lengthy period of planning and negotiations, with approval first being required from Westminster to give the corporation the powers to raise the necessary funds, estimated at half a million pounds.

In 1883 the Ribble Navigation and Preston Dock Act was passed by parliament which allowed the corporation to divert the river and create a new basin, based on the plans drawn up by the engineer Edward Garlick.

Excavation began on the site of the new shipping and tidal basins, with around five million cubic metres (180,000,000 cu ft) of earth, sand and rock removed, which was used to fill the old river bed to create the dock's northern quays.

Construction required the demolition of the old docks and a temporary wharf, "Diversion Quay", was built at the east end of the new river channel to allow trade to continue.

[2] The scope of he endeavour meant that the initial estimate of half a million pounds was soon exceeded and the corporation needed further funding of another equivalent amount to complete the project.

Construction was also drawn out by several owners of Preston's textile mills, who, fearing the industries the new dock would attract would drive up the cost of labour, opposed the venture.

[6][12] On 21 May 1892 the concrete walls of a temporary dam built to hold back the Ribble were breached, allowing the basin to begin filling with water, and the new Port of Preston began operating a month later, with the official opening ceremony held on 25 June 1892.

Incoming vessels would unload raw cotton, timber, china clay, fruit (including bananas and citrus from the West Indies), wheat, horses, cattle, coal, petroleum products, fishmeal, fertilisers, and wood pulp and esparto grass for paper making.

[2] However, the Dockers Strikes of 1969 and 1970 severely disrupted the port's ferry services and deterred much of its foreign traffic and resulted in a noticeable fall in revenue, a trend that was not to be reversed.

[2] The docks continued to experience a steady decrease in trade, including the abandonment of ferry services, and in 1975 the first serious financial trouble began after an operating loss of £1.5m, the largest in the port's history, was reported.

[2] A report to the then Preston Borough Council in September 1979 advised that there was no future prospect for operating the port at a profit and it was resolved that the docks should be closed and the area redeveloped.

However, the rising cost of operations and the decreasing revenues from diminishing trade[d] led to the then Preston Borough Council deciding to close the port, and a phased closure was announced in 1976, which would result in the redundancy of 450 workers.

However, their study identified a number of major constraints including polluted water and contaminated land, inadequacy of flood defences, and lack of infrastructure which would result in high costs of clearance and reclamation.

Due to the size of the project and the associated constraints, the process was protracted and it was not until 1985 that a plan was finally chosen, submitted by Holder Mathias (Architects) of London and the Balfour Beatty corporation.

The plan's general strategy was that the clearance, reclamation and infrastructure works would commence immediately to attract investment from the private sector to redevelop individual site.

A condition of the proposal was that Balfour Beatty retained the development rights on the prime waterfront area north and east of the dock basin, in return for funding the road infrastructure project.

Despite repeated attempts to cure the problem and improve water quality, outbreaks still occur and are most prevalent in the warmer months, and signs are posted around the basin by the Preston City Council warning against swimming (including pets).

This section of the line is utilised by the RSR which operates regular trips on preserved rolling stock on weekends from April through to September, and special trains during the winter holiday season.

[28] In 1948 the Atlantic Steam Navigation company established a passenger and vehicular ferry service operating from the Preston Docks to Larne in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

[39] Demand for scrap fell in the 1960s and the yard faced increasing competition from breakers in India, Bangladesh and the Far East, which enjoyed the financial benefits of extremely low wages and lack of safety regulations, and Ward's business declined.

[10] Records show at least 26 ships being built,[46] including the passenger steamer SS Toroa in 1899, which ran aground in 1916 off Babbit Island, Tasmania, Australia, with the loss of all hands.

[53] The only record found for vessels constructed by the yard under this name was a small coaster Burscough but its life was very short; built in 1921, it was stripped of all salvageable metal parts in 1924 by the Preston shipbreakers Thos.

In 1988–89 a building containing a cafe, chandlery and a ship broker was constructed, along with the installation of pontoon berths for 75 craft and a wave attenuator (floating shield) to protect moored vessels.

The competition was won by a team of local architects, Brock Carmichael Associated, partnering with the Staffordshire development company Lovell Urban Renewal Ltd. Construction began in 1990 but the project was shelved after the first phase due to a recession in the housing market.

In 2010 members of the Fylde Bird Club installed a number of gravel-filled tyres and slate shelters on the pontoons at the Preston Marina to attract common terns and entice them to breed.