Gloucester Docks, a successful bid and a year of celebrations

The arrival of the canal and the opening of the Gloucester Docks in 1827 helped turn a struggling cathedral city into a growing Victorian workshop.  Gloucester Docks have been a major element in the city ever since. Once trade came to an end, the docks went quiet but not for long.  They have now been reborn with a mix of housing and retail enterprises, a second renaissance and as we start to make plans to celebrate their bicentenary, the docks are still fundamentally important to Gloucester's economy and one of our key cultural offerings.

Consequently, we are delighted to announce that Gloucestershire Archives have secured a grant from Lloyds of London to investigate some of the historic sailing craft based in the city. By examining archive collections and undertaking family research we will look at the crews and their families, the boatbuilders and repairers and the shipowners who ran them.  We plan to produce an exhibition which will then feed into the other bicentenary celebrations happening throughout 2027. 

     

Other early plans to mark this landmark include a party and activities that everyone in Gloucester can enjoy. Events that we already hold annually will be enhanced and there will be new shows and exhibitions through the year. We also hope that everyone in Gloucester will want to make themselves part of the celebrations by putting on events and doing something to help the summer along.

We want to bring the docks to a wider audience, increasing visitors to the city in 2027 and helping our businesses thrive. At the heart of the modern docks lies the drydocks and the unique talents of Nielsen’s yard the country’s foremost repair centre for historic wooden craft. It is also a maritime business handling a wide range of modern vessels. We want that business to help draw the cream of sailing and heritage craft to visit the city and bring the docks to life.

And when the bicentenary is over, we hope the docks will feel more welcoming with new seats and signposting and more historic information and interpretation available for future generations to appreciate.