The Victorian Legacy

The burgeoning Gloucester Docks was the stimulus for a period of almost uninterrupted growth that was to last throughout the nineteenth century and the city prospered as an important manufacturing, engineering and commercial centre.

But, as the century drew to an end, ocean-going ships became too large to move through the canal and the docks rapidly declined as materials were transmitted by rail rather than water. The city remained a vibrant commercial centre and large-scale engineering moved into the south of the city, especially in the shape of the famous Gloucester Wagon Works.

The population of the city more than doubled between 1870 and 1890, from 7,000 to over 15,000, and a massive house building boom ensued, with crowded artisan houses springing up on the edge of the city centre and more affluent residencies extending its outskirts.

The city centre became a congested, heaving, commercial centre, crowned by many impressive new civic buildings, including the Eastgate Market portico (1855), the Guildhall (1892), the Science College (1872) and the City Library (1899).