Gloucester Docks, Past Present and Future

A talk on 13 February 2024 by Dr Ray Wilson.
Report by Stephen Griffiths

Gloucester is the most inland seaport in Britain, which gave the place a distinct advantage when overland travel was so arduous. The Romans knew a good thing when they saw it and established the major town of Glevum there. But the River Severn is not an easy navigation, with its high tidal range, treacherous sand-banks and occasional nuisances like the Severn bore and the Longney monster. So, in 1827, to much fanfare and flag-waving, the Gloucester Docks and the Gloucester-Berkeley canal were opened for business.

Gloucester was always a working port, trading up and down the Severn, but was usually in the shadow of Bristol with its large overseas portfolio. Gloucester’s big-bang moment came in 1580 when, after a 15-year period of grovelling to QE1 (lady, not ship), it was granted the status of a chartered port, which meant that it was allowed to trade with foreign ports and play with the big boys. Its inland position gave it an advantage with heavy bulk goods like grain and timber from America and the Baltic. Bristol could keep its foppish trade in wine and sugar. Gloucester born and Gloucester bred...

As Gloucester’s trade grew in the booming 18th century it became apparent that better facilities were needed. In 1793 parliament passed an act for the construction of the Gloucester-Berkeley canal and work began on digging the main dock basin the following year. However, work stopped when the money ran out in 1799, and was only restarted in 1812 when the Gloucester and Cheltenham Railway Company built an iron tramroad to Gloucester dock. The tramroad, parts of which still exist underneath the carpark, linked the dock with quarries at Leckhampton. The revival shortened the canal to meet the Severn at Sharpness rather than Berkeley. Gloucester was now just 16 miles by ship, rather than 25 miles by the mean and meandering Severn.

The growth of the industrial Midlands, and the amount of grain required to feed its population, led to the building of the huge warehouses that still define Gloucester docks as the most significant collection of 19th century warehouses in Europe. In 1849 the Victoria dock was opened alongside the main basin, with additional warehouses to meet the ever-growing demand. It is commonly understood that Man cannot live by bread alone. Grain = malt = beer, and alongside the warehouses grew the maltings and the cottages for the maltings workers that still prettify the area today.

But it was too good to last. Ships grew ever bigger, and the practice of shifting bulk goods changed with the coming of the railways. In the 1860s most of the bulk trade moved to the new dock at Sharpness, and Gloucester docks began a slow decline. There were still large grain silos in use during the second world war, but by the 1960s Gloucester docks was a sorry-looking place. The western row of warehouses was demolished in 1966, but British Waterways’ plans to demolish the huge North warehouse met with opposition from more conservation minded people. In the 1980s this leviathan was sold to the local council for £1 sterling. If only I’d had a spare quid at the time. Ultimately it was converted to housing, as are many of the other warehouses that were saved, so that the dock is now a bijou residential area.

Walking around the docks today, alongside the warehouses, you will see the Georgian custom house, company offices and weighbridge house (sometime gent’s hairdresser), and the Victorian Mariner’s Chapel, all carefully integrated with museums, shops, cafes and restaurants. A lot of thought, energy and money has gone into keeping this heritage alive and relevant.