The dockyards district stretched along the River Charente on two levels that still exist today, separated by slipways or dry docks. It was home to 11 shipyards and four careening basins including the Forme Louis XV, which is the oldest stone-built dry dock in the world. A foundry, sheet metal works, forges, sawmills, a cooperage, a rope factory and a workshop where "marine sculptors" chiselled poops and prows, completed this industrial district that has been successfully brought back to life.