Carmarthenshire Dock was built in 1799 by the local industrialist Alexander Raby on the River Lliedi at Llanelli as a shipping point for his coal and iron. It was known as 'Raby's Shipping Place' and was served by a tramroad from Raby's Furnace (nprn 92882) at Cwmddyche. The original wharf is on the east side of the river and is straight from its northern end at the bridge where the former Nevill Druce Railway bridge (nprn 34707) crossed, extending for some 120m south-south-west; it is well-constructed of coursed rubble sandstone with large sandstone copings. It is crossed near its southern end by a modern road bridge.
The dock was enlarged and improved after an Act was passed in 1802 for the 'Carmarthenshire Railway or Tramroad' (nprn 275707) to be built between the dock and limestone quarries west of Llandybie. The west wharf was constructed in 1805; it extends for some 190m. The dock remained busy throughout the nineteenth century. A sluice was added to the railway bridge at the north end of the dock in 1858, and a Scouring Dock (nprn 34206) was thus created on the New Cut Canal of 1839 (nprn 34397), enabling silt to be flushed from the dock. Carmarthenshire Dock declined in importance with the construction of floating docks in the town.
Sources: Cadw listed buildings database; A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of the Swansea Region, Association for Industrial Archaeology, 2nd Edition, 1989, p.26.
RCAHMW, 2009.