This is a small industrial site I’ve been intrigued by it for for some time but I didn’t realise it was linked to Bristols maritime and industrial history. There is nothing to hint of that past today, so here is a sketchy history. Please feel free the add any correction or info’.
In the early 1800’s Bristol was well established as a commercial city. Shipping and heavy industry were prominent and south Bristol had iron foundries and shipyards.
Acraman, Morgan & Co had iron foundries in St Phillips and Bathurst Basin, and provided steel for their own shipyard and others along the Floating Harbour and the New Cut (the redirected River Avon). In 1840 they opened a new shipyard in Bedminster where ships were launched into the New Cut.
They built steamships including two large, and at that time, advanced vessels, the Severn and the Avon, They were built for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company for communication with America and the West Indies. Whilst still building the second ship they went bankrupt and other shipbuilders had to finish the build. By1844 they had ceased trading.
John Payne Ltd took over the shipyard in 1862, and as the Vauxhall Yard, continued to produce small ships until 1925.
Sometime in the following years shipbuilding must have stopped because in 1935 Bristol Metal Spraying and Coating set up on the site and some of their workshops are built over the boatyard slipways. They grew to become Bristol Metal Spraying and Protective Coatings and provided coating applicators for the Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear, Aviation, Oil, MOD, and Construction Industries.
Their processes included (from their website) “Abrasive Blasting with Steel Grit, Aluminium Oxide, Glass Bead, Plastic Media Metal Spraying of steels, molybdenum, zinc, aluminium, alloys etc Simple to Hi-Tech Paint Systems Urethanes and Resin systems Glass Flake Coatings Rubber Coatings, Plasma and Thermal Sprayed coating - high technology coatings & ceramics for commercial and aerospace industry. Reclamation of worn, mis-machined or obsolete components. Limpetite rubber coatings for severely adverse conditions e.g. Power Stations, Ships hulls, rudders, stabilising fins together with underwater equipment for military and oil industries.”
They continued trading from there for 88 years until they went into voluntary liquidation in 2023,
The site has been considered for housing development since 2020 and is now the subject of planning permission for 150+ apartments. This has stalled due to opposition from some local residents, and concerns about how the land can be safely cleared of high levels ofCopper, Cadmium, and Zinc.
I visited the site twice. Once on my own and then with a non member. The slope of the slipway is evident along most of the site. The office buildings looked in good condition but were locked and bare. Some of the workshops were in fair condition but most looked quite dilapidated and in need of upgrading. Possibly the reason for closure.There was no on site security but there was active 24 hour video surveillance, and security did turn up. Luckily didn’t get caught though.
Multiple generations of walling.
Tracks possibly left from shipyard days.
Toxic looking basement used for pretty abrasive blasting judging from the brickwork.
Thanks for looking.
In the early 1800’s Bristol was well established as a commercial city. Shipping and heavy industry were prominent and south Bristol had iron foundries and shipyards.
Acraman, Morgan & Co had iron foundries in St Phillips and Bathurst Basin, and provided steel for their own shipyard and others along the Floating Harbour and the New Cut (the redirected River Avon). In 1840 they opened a new shipyard in Bedminster where ships were launched into the New Cut.
They built steamships including two large, and at that time, advanced vessels, the Severn and the Avon, They were built for the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company for communication with America and the West Indies. Whilst still building the second ship they went bankrupt and other shipbuilders had to finish the build. By1844 they had ceased trading.
John Payne Ltd took over the shipyard in 1862, and as the Vauxhall Yard, continued to produce small ships until 1925.
Sometime in the following years shipbuilding must have stopped because in 1935 Bristol Metal Spraying and Coating set up on the site and some of their workshops are built over the boatyard slipways. They grew to become Bristol Metal Spraying and Protective Coatings and provided coating applicators for the Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear, Aviation, Oil, MOD, and Construction Industries.
Their processes included (from their website) “Abrasive Blasting with Steel Grit, Aluminium Oxide, Glass Bead, Plastic Media Metal Spraying of steels, molybdenum, zinc, aluminium, alloys etc Simple to Hi-Tech Paint Systems Urethanes and Resin systems Glass Flake Coatings Rubber Coatings, Plasma and Thermal Sprayed coating - high technology coatings & ceramics for commercial and aerospace industry. Reclamation of worn, mis-machined or obsolete components. Limpetite rubber coatings for severely adverse conditions e.g. Power Stations, Ships hulls, rudders, stabilising fins together with underwater equipment for military and oil industries.”
They continued trading from there for 88 years until they went into voluntary liquidation in 2023,
The site has been considered for housing development since 2020 and is now the subject of planning permission for 150+ apartments. This has stalled due to opposition from some local residents, and concerns about how the land can be safely cleared of high levels ofCopper, Cadmium, and Zinc.
I visited the site twice. Once on my own and then with a non member. The slope of the slipway is evident along most of the site. The office buildings looked in good condition but were locked and bare. Some of the workshops were in fair condition but most looked quite dilapidated and in need of upgrading. Possibly the reason for closure.There was no on site security but there was active 24 hour video surveillance, and security did turn up. Luckily didn’t get caught though.
Multiple generations of walling.
Tracks possibly left from shipyard days.
Toxic looking basement used for pretty abrasive blasting judging from the brickwork.
Thanks for looking.
