Gloucester Waterways Museum

Gloucester Waterways Museum

The Gloucester Waterways Museum is housed in a Grade II listed warehouse at the heart of Gloucester's docks and beside the Gloucester and Sharpness Ship Canal and River Severn.

 

With its stunning location, beautiful boats and rich and varied displays Gloucester Waterways Museum is perfectly placed to tell the story of Britain's waterways and provide insights into the history of Gloucester's impressive docks. Its collections include objects that have been designated to be of national importance.

 

Museum Displays include:

Living havens for wildlife celebrating the role canals play in providing havens for birds, insects, plants and fish.

Move it! has horses, engines, boats, locks and more. Packed with intricate models, hands-on displays and real working engines, this dynamic gallery looks at the ingenious workings of the locks and boats on our waterways.

From sailing ships to narrow boats. Gloucester’s docks were a gateway between the world of tall ships and international trade, and Britain's network of inland waterways. And sailing vessels and tall ships still visit the docks today. On the museum quayside you can see historic craft, including steam dredger SND No 4, tug Severn Progress, barge Sabrina, narrow boats Northwich, Wye and Oak, and the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal Trust's workboat Renton. Many features remain from the working docks.

Waterways lives uncovered. 'Trade and the Docks' captures the atmosphere of a working warehouse and shows the role played by docks and canals in the British Empire and the Industrial Revolution. 'The story of canal' gives a fascinating overview of the people who created, worked and lived on the canals.

The Roses and Castles Gallery is packed with vibrant colour this display compares and contrasts the different painting styles and techniques used on traditional working craft.

Tunnelling, dredging and water management - canals are a feat of engineering and need on-going care and maintenance.

 

The Waterways Archive is based on the seventh floor of Llanthony Warehouse. The collection comprises administrative records for navigation companies in England and the nationalised waterways under the British Transport Commission and British Waterways. There are plans and maps of waterways and their structures, financial and staff records and correspondence. Photographic collections include those of Arthur Watts, Herbert Dunkley and others. You can visit the archive by appointment, order copies of items in the archive or commission us to undertake research for you.