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Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, England

Notes: Brimscombe was an important local centre during the Industrial Revolution with its canal and rail links, with Brimscombe Port serving as the hub of the Thames and Severn canal.

Brimscombe Port was originally built to transfer cargo from Severn Trows, which travelled from the River Severn down the Stroudwater Navigation, to Thames barges which carried the goods eastwards towards London. This was necessary because the locks to the east of the port were too narrow to accommodate the larger sea-going Trows. There were also several boat-building yards at the port, including Abdela & Mitchell, who exported boats, notably paddle steamers, all over the world. According to recent on-the-ground research the legendary riverboat ‘Queen Of Africa’ which gave a star performance in the John Huston movie 'The African Queen' was built at the Abdela & Mitchell Brimscombe works between 1908 and 1911.

Until the construction of what is now the A419 road along the bottom of the valley in 1815, Thrupp Lane was the main thoroughfare between Stroud and Chalford. The condition of this road was such that it required a whole day for a team of horses to draw a loaded waggon and return, a distance of only four miles each way.

Media

Photos » Slide Show	2 Photos
	Port Mill, Brimscombe, near Stroud, Gloucestershire, England This mill replaced the original building in 1811 and was built for the processing of Grist. It was later used as a cloth mill. It was located adjacent to Brimscombe Port but this has since been filled in and nowadays is a car park for surrounding commercial premises.
	Brimscombe Port, Near Stroud, Gloucestershire, England Just to the right of centre in this picture is Port Mill with the water tower dominating the roof-line of the mill which was re-built in 1811. At one time Brimscombe Port (opened in 1789) was a focal point as the Headquarters for the Thames and Severn Canal. Sea-going Severn trows came all the way up to Brimscombe from the River Severn. They could not navigate further onto the Stroudwater canal because they were too large. So, at the Port, goods were transferred to narrower boats to transport cargo through the Sapperton Tunnel to the River Thames and beyond. Goods and freight were of all sorts, including cloth and wool but predominately, the port was used to store coal. In fact, an island in the port was used for this purpose because it provided ideal security against theft of this valuable commodity by local people! The canal and port finally closed in 1933.

MFO Wiki Articles

The Industrial History of Stroud

Buried

Matches 1 to 2 of 2

	Last Name, Given Name(s)	Buried		Person ID	Tree
1	Powell, George	25 Apr 1903	Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, England	I15073	Mitchell Families
2	Vick, Emily	24 Dec 1895	Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, England	I15074	Mitchell Families