About the City Docks Conservation Area
The City Docks Conservation Area covers about 115 hectares and was designated by Bristol City Council in 1979. Inside the boundary are 64 listed buildings (9 Grade II*, 55 Grade II). The most significant is Block A: Sluice Building and Stores with culverted sluices, boundary walls and gatepiers, Underfall Yard, Grade II*. 3 Article 4 directions over the area remove further householder rights, on top of the conservation area limits below. 91 Tree Preservation Order records overlap the area; every other tree here still needs six weeks’ notice before work. Part of the area lies in flood zone 2, so an extension may need a flood risk assessment.
What changes inside the conservation area
Conservation areas are “Article 2(3) land”. You keep most permitted development rights, but these are removed or tightened.
- Rear extensionElsewhere: 3 m · 6 m with PANo 6 m / 8 m prior approval
- Two-storey extensionElsewhere: 3 mNeeds planning permission
- Side extensionElsewhere: Half the widthNeeds planning permission
- Loft conversionElsewhere: 50 m³Needs planning permission
- Garden roomElsewhere: 2.5 m high by boundariesNot beside the house
- PorchElsewhere: 3 m²Same limits
- Solar panelsElsewhere: 0.2 m projectionSame limits
- Air source heat pumpElsewhere: 1 unitNot facing the road
- Fences, walls and gatesElsewhere: 2 m · 1 m by a roadSame limits
- External claddingElsewhere: Matching materialsNeeds planning permission
- Tree workElsewhere: No notice6 weeks’ notice to the council
- Demolition (over 115 m³)Elsewhere: AllowedNeeds planning permission
Limits for a semi-detached house under the GPDO 2015. An Article 4 direction can remove more.
Article 4 directions here
These overlap the conservation area. Householder directions remove more of the rights above; change-of-use ones don’t affect extending a house.
- Article 4 SouthHouseholder works
- Clifton Ward (1999 ward boundary)Householder works
- Ashley Ward, Cabot Ward, Clifton East Ward, Cotham Ward and Lawrence Hill Ward (1999 ward boundary)Householder works
Listed buildings in the conservation area
Any work affecting these needs listed building consent, inside or out. Each links to its entry on the National Heritage List.
- Block A: Sluice Building and Stores with culverted sluices, boundary walls and gatepiers, Underfall YardGrade II*
- Brunel's south entrance lock and swing bridgeGrade II*
- Brunel's swing bridge alongside north entrance lockGrade II*
- Chimney of Hydraulic Engine House, Approximately 2 Metres North of Engine HouseGrade II*
- Fairbairn Steam CraneGrade II*
- Great Western Dry DockGrade II*
- Hydraulic Engine HouseGrade II*
- Machine ShopGrade II*
- Premises Occupied by Wickham and Morris (timber Importers)Grade II*
- 1-4, Wapping RoadGrade II
- 128 St George’s Road, the former women’s and children’s dispensary, known as The Read DispensaryGrade II
- 129, Cumberland RoadGrade II
- 2-6, Bathurst ParadeGrade II
- 7, 8 and 9, Bathurst ParadeGrade II
- 81, 82 and 83, Cumberland RoadGrade II
- 84 and 85, Cumberland RoadGrade II
- 86-90, Cumberland RoadGrade II
- 91, Cumberland RoadGrade II
- A Bond Tobacco WarehouseGrade II
- Albion DockGrade II
- Ashton Swing BridgeGrade II
- Attached Wall, Piers and Gates to North of Transit Shed EGrade II
- Avon Crescent SubstationGrade II
- B Bond Tobacco WarehouseGrade II
Show all 64 listed buildings ↓All 64 listed buildings
- Block C: former salvage store and pattern-maker’s workshop and boundary wall, Underfall YardGrade II
- Block J: Cartshed, Underfall YardGrade II
- Block K: Stables, Underfall YardGrade II
- Bust of Samuel PlimsollGrade II
- C Bond Tobacco WarehouseGrade II
- Canon's HouseGrade II
- Canon's Marsh Goods ShedGrade II
- Crane BaseGrade II
- Cranes and rails on Prince's WharfGrade II
- Cumberland Basin walls and associated features including Junction Lock swing bridgeGrade II
- Floating Harbour Quay Wall and Bollards Extending For Approximately 900 MetresGrade II
- Former Engine House at St 5793 7250Grade II
- Former Leadworks and Attached Chimney and WallGrade II
- Former Pattern Maker's Shop and StoresGrade II
- Former Shipwright's ShopGrade II
- Gateway and Boundary Wall to East and West Sides of RoadGrade II
- Nova Scotia Hotel Public HouseGrade II
- Numbers 1 and 2 and Attached Front Garden Walls and PiersGrade II
- Numbers 1a and 2a and Attached Front Garden Walls and PiersGrade II
- Numbers 6 and 7 and Attached Garden Walls and Piers Numbers 9 to 25 and Attached Garden Walls and PiersGrade II
- Old City Gaol, Entrance Wall and GatewayGrade II
- Old City Gaol, South East Perimeter WallGrade II
- Old Dock CottagesGrade II
- Old Dock CottagesGrade II
- Patent Slip and Quay WallsGrade II
- Prince Street BridgeGrade II
- Prince's Wharf and Wapping Wharf, quays and bollardsGrade II
- Quay Wall of Bathurst WharfGrade II
- Retort House at St 5790 7252 West of Gasferry RoadGrade II
- Retort House at St 5797 7251 East of Gasferry RoadGrade II
- Robinson's WarehouseGrade II
- The Georgian HouseGrade II
- The Louisiana Public HouseGrade II
- The Pump House Public HouseGrade II
- Thomas Ware Tannery Office and Attached Wall and PiersGrade II
- Transit Shed EGrade II
- Transit Shed WGrade II
- Vauxhall BridgeGrade II
- Walls and Piers to Forecourt of Number 91Grade II
- Walls, Quays and Bollards to Bathurst BasinGrade II
Streets in the conservation area
Streets with listed buildings inside the boundary. Boundaries often split a street — check your exact address.
The council’s appraisal
WEBCity Docks Conservation Area AppraisalBristol City Council’s description of the area’s character — what planners look at when you apply.Open on council site ↗Nearby conservation areas
Boundary and listed buildings from Bristol City Council and Historic England via planning.data.gov.uk (OGL). Guidance only — not an official council check.