Bathurst Basin was constructed in 1809 as a secondary entrance to the Floating Harbour from the New Cut. At some time a pontoon was built upstream from the entrance to allow loading and unloading of ships. Remnants are still visible from Coronation Road. In 1883 a small brick shed was built for the Cardiff and Channel Steamship Company on the promontory between the basin and the Cut. In 1888 the company purchased a paddle steamer, specifically built for the Bristol/Cardiff packet service. The ship, the “Marchioness”, used the shed and ran up and down the Cut with great regularity and turned at each journey’s end in the entrance to Bathurst Basin. It was sold in 1913. The “Marchioness” shed however, still stands.
The promontory was also the location of a double-leaf wooden bridge across the basin entrance to Wapping Road. This was later replaced by the current bridge which was opened in November 1906. Its turning gear was the last hydraulic installation in the city docks although since about 1941 the bridge has been fixed. It was built adjacent to, rather than on the same spot as the original bridge. Therefore all the cobbled roadways and stonework for the 1809 bridge still exist.