Sharpness ( sharp-NESS ) is an English port in Gloucestershire, one of the most inland in Britain, and eighth largest in the South West. It is on the River Severn at grid reference SO669027 , at a point where the tidal range, though less than at Avonmouth downstream (14 metres (46 ft) typical spring tide), is still large (10 metres (33 ft) typical spring).
There is a small community of approximately 100 residents directly adjacent to the port, in addition to the subvillage of Newtown approximately 0.5 miles to the west. Four miles to the south lies the small town of Berkeley.
Sharpness docks began as a basin giving access to the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal. There were no port facilities at Sharpness itself and all traffic proceeded up the canal to Gloucester. The original Old Dock opened, with the canal, in 1827. The dock was separated from the Severn by a lock gate. The level of the basin varied for the hour or two for which the gate was open and so it was isolated from the canal by a lock with two gates. This lock was improved over time, expanding to be a ship lock of 163ft length and 38ft breadth and a smaller lock for trows of 81ft and 19ft. An intermediate lock gate was also provided in the larger lock, allowing shorter vessels to pass through more quickly and with less water consumption. A house for the Harbour Master was provided on the seaward dockside alongside the river gate. Today the Severn Area Rescue Association maintain a rescue station in the old house.
The size of the Old Dock became a drawback for increasingly large ships and so in 1874 a floating New Dock was opened to the South. This had several advantages over the Old Dock: its entrance was now through a tidal basin and a large lock. This gave a constant water level within the dock, matching that of the canal, and so no locks were needed between dock and canal, encouraging traffic. The lock was 320ft long and 57ft wide. For ships longer than this, the basin itself could also be used as a lock. A graving dock was provided parallel to the lock. This constant level encouraged the building of wharves and warehouses. With the new rail connections available to Bristol, Sharpness also developed as a port in its own right. At first the only stone quay was on the landward side of the dock, but after a railway swing bridge was built across the dock, the island area between the two docks also developed as a quayside.
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