GUNWHARF QUAYS SHOPPING.
Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth's waterside shopping area, is part of the Portsmouth Harbour regeneration project. Situated on the former home of HMS Vernon, Gunwharf Quays is home to:
- 90 retail outlet stores.
- The Spinnaker Tower
- Tiger Tiger - Nightclub
- Highlight - Comedy Club
- Vue 14 screen cinema
- Bowlplex - 26 lane bowling
- Gunwharf Quays Marina
- Aspex Art Gallery
- 24/7 Fitness - Health Club
- Grosvenor Casino
- Holiday Inn Express - Hotel
- Waterside apartments and housing
- Numerous bars and restaurants many overlooking Portsmouth Harbour.
There are some great designer clothing outlets at Gunwharf, such as Ralph Lauren, Ted Baker, Jack Wills Outlet and Karen Millen.
In addition Gunwharf Quays is home to a wide range of factory outlets including GAP, Clarks Shoes, Marks & Spencer and Cotton Trader, where you can find your favourite brands at outlet store prices.
But it's not just clothes shopping at Gunwharf, there is a great selection of specialist retailers here as well, Carphone Warehouse
, Villeroy & Boch and Bose are all here too. Check the listing on the right for more details.
The shops and retail outlets are mainly located around the central square and the southern section of the canalside area.
The restaurants and bars are mainly at the waterfront, at the first floor areas and along the northern canalside area.
There are lifts providing disabled access to the first floor areas at the north side of the central square near the Vue Cinema and also on the south side next to the Gap store.
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION.
Address: Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3TZ.
Tel: 02392 836700
Opening hours:
- Monday-Friday 10am to 7pm
- Saturday 9am to 7pm
- Sunday 10am to 5pm (some of the larger stores open at 11.00am)
- Bank Holidays 10am to 7pm
Car Park:
- 1,533 space multistorey underground car park.
- Open 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
Shopmobility scheme: Operates from the car park office.
Tel: 02392 836773
GUNWHARF QUAYS HISTORY
Gunwharf Quays was developed on the site of HMS Vernon, which closed in 1986. HMS Vernon was the centre for development and
training of torpedoes and torpedo men for the Royal Navy.
However the history of Gunwharf is much older than HMS Vernon and can be traced back to the 12th century when King Richard, let out land for
development of a dockyard and constructed a dock for royal galleys, known as Richards Docks.
Gunwharf Quays gets its name from its use from the late 17th century. From this time it was the main ordance supply depot fot the Royal Navy in Portsmouth, it was from this site that ships loaded their weapons, canon balls and gunpowder before leaving Portsmouth Harbour. It was from this
site that HMS Victory would have collected her weapons and munitions before leaving to fight at the Battle of Trafalgar.
The HMS Vernon site was badly damaged during the bombing of the second world war and many building were destroyed.
Some original buildings do still remain, as mentioned earlier the Old Customs House pub is housed in an old Royal Naval administrative building and the newly resited Aspex Gallery, free admission, is now housed in the Vulcan building another listed building that survived the bombing.
