Historic docks
Gloucester Docks is a special place within the heart of the community. Life and activity abounds and yet it is easy to find a place of tranquillity by the water to reflect on the issues of the day, to see the movement of the many and varied boats or simply to watch the world go by. The magnificent and imposing warehouses give a tremendous sense of both history and place and this has been recognised by the use of the area as a backdrop for major film and television productions. It is one of the few places in the region where you can see traditional boat builders and riggers at work. The two dry docks are regularly used to repair and maintain a wide variety of boats including tall ships, ocean going yachts and canal barges.
Gloucester is the UK's most inland shipping port. Once vital for the transfer of goods and raw materials, the city's docks were a bustling link between Britain and the rest of the world. At the turn of the 20th century, during the height of their industrial heyday, the docks saw the annual loading and unloading of over a million tonnes of cargo - with canal barges transferring goods and raw materials between the city and Britain's industrial heartlands in the Midlands. Today the cargo ships have long gone and the Docks have a new purpose - serving the ever increasing use of our nation's waterways for leisure and tourism.
The history of the Docks can be traced back to the granting of a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth I in 1580, though they were not fully completed in their present form until 1812. Further development ensued from April 1827 with the opening of the 16-mile long ship canal, at the time the longest and deepest in the world, linking Gloucester with Sharpness, the Severn Estuary and the World beyond.
Between 1826 and 1873 the magnificent, and today historically significant, Dockside warehouses were built to the strict designs and specifications of the then canal company. The North Warehouse, at the head of the main basin, was the first to be built with Alexandra Warehouse, on the West Quay, being the last in 1873. Most of these warehouses remain today though some were lost to fire and dilapidation over the years. They no longer store corn, wheat, barley and oats but have been given new leases of life with extensive refurbishment and conversion to office, commercial and residential accommodation. There are more than 250 sought-after residential apartments within the Docks area, many of which are in the restored listed warehouses alongside new development, bringing a renewed sense of life and vibrancy to the area.
Gloucester Docks is a special place within the heart of the community and along with the fantastic Cathedral they are the historical jewels in the crown of a great English city. Life and activity abounds and yet it is easy to find a place of tranquillity by the water to reflect on the issues of the day, to see the movement of the many and varied boats or simply to watch the world go by. The magnificent and imposing warehouses give a tremendous sense of both history and place and this has been recognised by the use of the area as a backdrop for major film and television productions including the recent feature films Amazing Grace and The Colour of Money.
