Machine Shop

The Machine Shop, built around 1885 and extended in the early 20th century, is located in Bristol's Underfall Yard on the south side of the Floating Harbour. This single-storey brick structure features a tiled double-pile hipped roof and an open-plan layout. It has a plain shed design with corbelled eaves and sliding doors at both ends. A two-storey, two-window extension from the 20th century is situated on the left-hand side, which includes a return elevation with seven metal casement windows. An octagonal chimney is attached to the right-hand return.

Inside, the shop contains boiler and engine houses, as well as blacksmith's and engineer's shops. A significant amount of original machinery remains, including steam-powered equipment from the mid-1880s for planing, slotting, punching and shearing, a long-bed lathe, a steam hammer, wall-mounted line shafting, a Tangye horizontal engine, and a Cornish boiler.

Historically, the Machine Shop was constructed on land reclaimed behind Jessops' Floating Harbour dam, built in 1809, and is named after Brunel's Under Fall culvert from 1832, which was designed to remove silt into the New Cut. The site is noted for preserving the essential character of the dock landscape.