There’s something magical about harbours. Even if you’re not a boat person—or even a water person—it’s hard not to be charmed by the bustle, the ropes creaking against bollards, and the gentle lapping of water.
At its core, the Heritage Harbour concept is a grassroots effort to recognise and protect historically significant inland and coastal harbours that still carry the marks of Britain’s maritime past. It’s about giving these places a new life—not as static museum pieces, but as living, working ports where traditional boats and trades are not only remembered but celebrated and continued. In short: they’re not just relics— they’re alive.
The Birth of a Concept
The idea of Heritage Harbours in the UK is relatively new, but it borrows heavily from a successful movement in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where dozens of harbours have been designated and protected for their cultural and maritime value. Inspired by this model, several UK organisations began looking at how to do something similar here.
Enter National Historic Ships UK (NHS-UK), Historic England and the Maritime Heritage Trust—all key players who got behind the wheel, so to speak. Together, they created a framework to help identify and promote harbours that still retain their historic character and can serve as hubs for heritage vessels and maritime skills.
So far, this effort has been championed largely by local communities and passionate maritime enthusiasts who want to see their local waterways thrive again—culturally, socially, and even economically.
What Makes a Heritage Harbour?
A Heritage Harbour isn’t just any picturesque quay. It needs to have retained physical features from its industrial or trading heyday—things like original bollards, cranes, warehouses, and slipways. But it's also about the stories that come with them. These places are selected for their ability to support historic boats and traditional skills.
There’s no single, top-down government scheme rubber-stamping harbours as “Heritage,” either. This is very much a community-led designation. Once a harbour group believes their site f its the bill, they can work with the relevant national bodies to gain recognition and promote their status.
Shardlow: An inland example
Shardlow is a small village in Derbyshire that, to the untrained eye, might look like just another sleepy waterside spot. But take a closer look and you’ll find one of the finest surviving examples of an 18th-century inland port.
The village blossomed in the late 1700s after the opening of the Trent and Mersey Canal - a vital artery during the Industrial Revolution. Shardlow was perfectly placed to become a major point between the canal system and river traffic. At its peak, it had dozens of warehouses, boatyards, inns, stables, and other infrastructure to support the bustling trade of goods ranging from coal and salt to pottery and timber.
Fast-forward to today, and much of that infrastructure still exists. There are old warehouses now converted into homes and pubs, restored toll houses, and surviving workshops. It’s not hard to picture horses clopping along the towpath, or barges being loaded by hand.
This level of preservation helped Shardlow become one of the first locations to be proposed as a Heritage Harbour in the UK. Local heritage groups have worked to document the site’s history and ensure its buildings and water spaces are protected and—importantly—used.
Shardlow is a working example of how heritage can coexist with leisure boating and modern life. Historic narrowboats still visit, and there are regular events that bring traditional skills, like rope making and boat painting, to life for the public.
More Than Just Nostalgia
So why does this all matter?
Britain’s waterways played a huge part in the Industrial Revolution, helping to shape towns, economies, and social structures. But as those industries faded, so too did many of the ports and harbours that once buzzed with activity. The Heritage Harbours concept is about recognising that value—not just historically, but culturally and economically.
There’s a growing recognition that places like Shardlow can boost local tourism, support traditional trades, and provide hands-on learning opportunities for future generations. And with sustainability and localism coming to the fore, these kinds of community-driven heritage initiatives are striking a real chord.
The Road (or Canal) Ahead
As of now, the Heritage Harbours network in the UK is still growing, we welcomed two more locations during Heritage Open Days 2024 which has taken us up to fourteen in total: Gloucester, Ramsgate, Bideford, Bristol, Buckler’s Hard, Chester, Exeter, Faversham and Oare Creeks, Ipswich, Maldon and Heybridge, Sandwich, Shardlow, Stourport, and Wells next the Sea. Each one brings its own unique character and challenges, but they all share the same mission: to keep Britain’s maritime heritage afloat—literally.
So next time you’re wandering along a canal towpath or sipping a pint outside a converted warehouse pub, take a moment to imagine what life might’ve looked like two hundred years ago. You might just find you’re walking through a living piece of history—and thanks to the Heritage Harbours movement, that history has never felt more alive.
Hannah Hurford
