Gloucester Waterways Museum


Gloucester Waterways Museum is housed in a Victorian warehouse at Gloucester Docks in the city of Gloucester, England. It is located along the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal and River Severn.
It is one of several museums and attractions operated by the Canal & River Trust, the successor to The Waterways Trust.

History

The museum opened in 1988, it was formerly known as the "National Waterways Museum, Gloucester", one of three museums operated by The Waterways Trust that focused on the history of canals in Britain. The museum went through extensive refurbishments between 2007 and 2008, adding new galleries. In the Summer of 2010 the Gloucester site was renamed the Gloucester Waterways Museum, focussing on the local area and meaning that they could apply for different types of funding than that available to a national museum.
The museum features a collection of boats including narrowboats, river barges, canal and river tugs, and a steam-powered dredger. There is also a steam crane and heavy oil engine in the setting of a canal repair yard, complete with working machine shop, forge and weighbridge, and a hydraulic accumulator. The museum uses modern interactive techniques and hands on exhibits, which includes a model of a section of a canal with working locks.

Building

The Gloucester Waterways Museum is part of Llanthony Warehouse, Gloucester, built in 1873. Designed by Capel N Tripp, for local corn merchants, Wait, James & Co. It is a six storey red brick building, with a slate roof and stone lintels and sills. The warehouse would have been used for storing timber, grain and alcohol. The building was designated Grade II listed status on 14 December 1971 and was converted to become the National Waterways Museum in 1987.