Gloucester Docks &
the Sharpness Canal

Albert Britannia & Victoria Warehouses

Mr Partridge's Warehouses
     The three warehouses on the west side of the Victoria Dock were all built for William Partridge. He was primarily in business as an iron merchant and carrier by water, and the warehouses were an investment for renting to local corn merchants. Although the first was initially known as Mr Partridge's warehouse, as the others were built, it became necessary to give each a distinctive name.

Victoria Warehouse
     Built in 1849, this warehouse was intially rented to the Bristol based corn merchants Wait James & Co. After they moved to the newly built Llanthony Warehouse in 1873, Victoria Warehouse was occupied by Cadle & Co, the Severn Ports Warehousing Co and then Sidney Lane, who built a grain drying kiln to the north in 1896. When Lane went bankrupt in 1900, the warehouse and kiln were taken over by Bristol based corn merchants Turner Nott & Co, who continued until 1926. After standing empty for ten years, the warehouse was leased by builder's merchants Sessions & Sons until 1962, and then it was used by Priday Metford & Co for storing and bagging flour from the nearby City Flour Mills until 1989. Top

Albert Warehouse
     Built in 1851, this warehouse was intially rented to corn merchants W C Lucy & Co. Once a year, the lower floor was cleared for the annual fund-raising tea meeting organised by the chaplain of the nearby Mariner's Chapel. In 1869, James Reynolds took over the building and converted it to a flour mill with a boiler and engine house built to the south. Initially wheat was ground between stones, but in 1880 new roller milling machines were installed. Further equipment was added over the years to keep the business competitive until the mill was eventually closed in 1977. (More about Albert Mills) Top

Britannia Warehouse
     Built in 1861, this warehouse was intially rented to the Bristol based corn merchants H Adams & Co (later R & H Adams Ltd). In 1905, the lease passed to G T Beard who managed a number of the Gloucester warehouses, storing grain for various merchants who did not have their own accommodation. From the 1930s, the warehouse was no longer storing grain, and floors were rented to firms such as W S Barron & Son, millwrights, and Priestley Studios, who built exhibition displays. In 1987, when occupied by Cotswold Typesetting and by furniture stored by Loader & Munckton, the building was completely gutted by fire. Top

Redevelopment
     After much debate, Britannia Warehouse was demolished and rebuilt, using many of the old bricks, to provide offices which were first occupied in 1990. Victoria Warehouse was refurbished in 1990 and became offices for National Health Service administrators. Albert Warehouse housed the Robert Opie Museum of Advertising and Packaging from 1984 to 2001, and then it was converted to apartments which were occupied in 2003.

Sources: TNA RAIL 829 & 864 Canal Co minute books; Glos Arch rate books.