Fifteen Victorian warehouses stand as proud guardians to Britain’s most inland port. The former dock estate has become a popular destination where visitors can enjoy interesting views and a range of modern facilities while wandering around a remarkably complete example of a Victorian port. Views include many fine late Victorian era warehouses, a working dry dock, a Mariners Chapel and other dock-related buildings that have been found new uses.

Where ships once discharged their cargoes, there is now an ever-changing miscellany of visiting narrow boats, smart motor cruisers and the occasional yacht or tall ship.

The Main Basin at Gloucester was constructed as the terminus of the ship canal with an entrance from the Severn estuary at Sharpness. As the work was nearing completion, there was concern that the basin would not be large enough for the trade expected, and so an additional Barge Arm was constructed to ensure that the Main Basin could be kept free for sea-going ships. In addition, the Canal Company built a warehouse at the north end of the basin. The canal was formally opened on the 26 April 1827, and a huge crowd gathered to watch the first two vessels enter the basin amid the firing of guns and the ringing of church bells.

The Barge Arm was an early development for use by barges and narrow canal boats to keep them out of the way of the big ships in the Main Basin. Each side of the Arm was lined with yards handling such cargoes as coal, stone, timber or building materials, and each yard was initially served by a siding of horse-drawn tramroad to Cheltenham.

From here generations of Gloucester men went ‘up country’ to the Midlands in narrow canal boats that were 70 feet long and 7 feet wide. On the outward journey, most carried grain or timber imported through Gloucester, returning with goods for export or coal for local consumption. The master of each boat was paid by the trip and was expected to find his own crew, and many found it necessary to take their wife and/or children rather than employ another man. Children working on the boats had little opportunity to attend school, and their lack of education meant that most continued to work on the boats when grown up.*

*From a sign board next to the Barge Arm