In the middle of the River Severn in Worcester lies Diglis Island, once a hub for river navigation and lock-gate manufacture. Steeped in history and thriving with wildlife, it’s fascinating to visit today.
Long before Diglis Island became a popular destination for visitors and a haven for wildlife, it was a hive of industry. Saws whined in the workshops, hammers rang out in the forge, and the smell of hot tar drifted across the yard.
Opened in 1844, the island was the centrepiece of an ambitious Victorian engineering project to make the lower River Severn easier to navigate. For centuries, the river had been one of Europe’s busiest trade routes from Gloucester and Bristol up to Worcester and Birmingham.
Yet boaters often found themselves at the mercy of shifting currents and seasonal floods, racing against time and tide to deliver their goods. As traffic continued to grow during the early part of the 19th century, so did calls for a safer, more reliable passage.
After several failed proposals, the task to tame the lower Severn fell to renowned engineers, Sir William Cubitt and Edward Leader Williams. Their plan was to build a series of weirs and locks between Stourport and Worcester to stabilise river levels, with a man-made island – Diglis Island – at its heart.
The transformation was remarkable. Instead of battling the tide, boaters could now pass safely through the locks, year-round, carrying larger cargoes on deeper-draught boats.
As trade grew, so did Diglis Island, becoming one of the country’s busiest canal maintenance yards, serving the River Severn and later, the Gloucester & Sharpness, Monmouthshire & Brecon, and Kennet & Avon canals among others.
The island buzzed with activity, as carpenters, blacksmiths and engineers worked side by side to keep the waterways moving. Inside the newly constructed red-brick warehouses, craftsmen measured, shaped and assembled massive oak lock gates, while in the blacksmith shop across the yard, smithies fashioned iron fittings, shod horses, and repaired metalwork.
In the yard, a large cauldron bubbled with a mixture of hot tar and manure, ready to repair the hulls of crippled boats and coat the finished lock gates. On the north side of the island, the chapel bell rang out each evening, calling the men to worship.
As the years rolled by, Diglis Island evolved with the waterways it served, adopting first steam, then electrically powered machinery to assist with some of the more arduous tasks, such as lifting, moving and cutting the giant oak timbers. In the late 1950s, a Scotch derrick crane was procured from Cardiff Docks, a 15-tonne hulk that still towers over the island today.
Despite these advances, traditional craftsmanship, passed down through generations, remained at the heart of everything, with the island serving as a hub for lock gate construction, boat repair, and weir maintenance for the best part of 150 years. Sadly, as the 20th century wore on, commercial traffic began to dwindle, and by the late 1990s, Diglis Island was all but abandoned as a lock gate workshop.
The forge closed, workshops fell silent, and the crane rusted in place. For a time, there were fears the historic workshops might be lost forever. Thankfully, restoration of the workshops, offices and chapel began after the turn of the millennium. Today, thanks in large part to your generous support, Diglis Island has become a cultural and conservation hub.
Leading the restoration effort is the island’s fish pass, which now reconnects ancient migratory routes that had been cut off when the Victorians built the weir, allowing wildlife to thrive.
Today, visitors can watch shad, eels and salmon dance, jump and wriggle their way upriver, via a unique underwater viewing window. They can also see sand martins returning each spring to nest beside the water, and, if they’re lucky, spot otters playing by the weir.
Now we can all step back in time as we explore the old workshops, offices and blacksmith shop, all virtually unchanged, and admire the island’s lovingly restored and iconic crane. This summer, more than 180 years since craftsmen were first set to work at Diglis Island, lock gates from one of the site’s two locks were brought ashore for repair. Once again, the island rang with the sound of tools on timber, as age-old lock crafts returned to a place that had helped perfect them over hundreds of years.
With the works now complete, there’s no better time to experience Diglis Island for yourself, with a variety of tours, drop-in sessions and events throughout the year. You’ll discover a fascinating time capsule, where past and present, heritage and nature meet.
