Underfall Yard

[1] In the early nineteenth century the engineer, William Jessop was engaged by the Bristol Dock Company to create a Floating Harbour to eliminate the problem of ships being grounded at low tide.

Jessop built a lock to retain the water in the harbour; this was completed in 1809, and allowed ships to remain floating at all times, unaffected by the state of the tide on the river.

[2] The docks' maintenance facility was established on the land exposed by the damming of the river to construct the harbour, and remains sited at this location to the present day.

By the 1830s the Floating Harbour was suffering from severe silting and Isambard Kingdom Brunel devised the underfall sluices based on William Jessop's original plans and recommended the use of dredgers as a solution .

[5] During the 20th century the western parts of the yard were leased to P & A Campbell Ltd, operators of the White Funnel Line of paddle steamers as a maintenance base.

The yards have been little altered recently except for the replacement of the three-storey 'A' block over the sluice paddle room resulting from bomb damage in World War II.

Based at the yard are maritime academies, a scout sailing section, a blacksmith, rigging company, Omni, and three boat building businesses.

In the early morning of 6 May 2023, the yard caught fire destroying several boats and a maintenance shed after a arson attack.

In 1832 Brunel was called upon to provide the solution to this problem and designed the sluice system, still in use today, to remove excesses of silt and mud.

When the deep sluice is opened at low tide, a powerful undertow is created which sucks the silt out of the harbour and into the river.

[11] The shop is occupied by RB Boatbuilding Ltd, a small business dedicated to the re-creation of classic, late 19th century, wooden working boats, including the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.

The restoration required the complete renewal of the underwater runway with steel piling to replace the previous timber, iron and masonry supports.

[21] Originally used as a place in which large items such as lock gates were built, the Big Shed was used by maritime businesses and is not open to the public.