Poole Quay is located in the northern edge of Poole Harbour. Poole Harbour has a rich history of being used by pirates, and before Vikings and Saxons, as determined by the remains of rubbish and oyster shells found at the bottom of the harbour. Historians identified this as fishing waste. However, it was mainly uninhabited until the 17th Century and links to Newfoundland Trade. This was the trading of salt cod with Spain, Portugal and Italy, in exchange for olive oil, salt and wine.

The decline of Newfoundland and the construction of Poole’s first railway, in the 19th Century, created a decline in trading at the harbour. There became new ways to travel to Poole and transport traded goods. Therefore, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1895, making it the responsibility of the Poole Harbour Commissioners to improve the Harbour and increase popularity. However, this act was paused during the wars, when the Harbour was used for trading food and to host a flying boat service.

In the 1970’s until the 2000’s Poole Quay became a port terminal for ferries. Companies such as Truckline and Condor Ferries used ferries to transport heavy machinery and vehicles. In 1974, Truckline secured a contract to import 25,000 Citroen cars per year and 2,000 tractors over 2 years. In 1994, the shipbuilding and repair yard was demolished to make room for a bigger terminal, to support larger vessels. £600,000 of improvements were made to Poole Harbour, including deepening the harbour to 7.5 metres and increasing the terminal to 60 acres.