Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the River Parrett at the edge of the Somerset Levels. The parish had a population of 38,310, at the time of the 2021 census, while the wider built-up area had a population of 47,860. The town plays host to an annual carnival in November, the largest of the Somerset carnivals.
A town was already established here by the time of the Domesday Book, great survey. It first became a borough and a castle was built in 1200, although the castle was destroyed after the English Civil War. The town had a politically radical tendency and the Battle of Sedgemoor was fought nearby in 1685, ending the Monmouth Rebellion.
At one time it was the largest port in Somerset. It developed as an industrial centre with brick and tile works, ship building and railway engineering. Its many notable buildings include the Church of St Mary, which played a part in the Battle of Sedgemoor, and the Blake Museum, which was the birthplace of Admiral Blake in 1598.
History It is thought that the town was originally called Brigg, meaning quay. It has been argued that the name may instead come from the Old English brycg (gang plank) or Old Norse bryggja (quay), though this idea has been opposed on etymological grounds. In the Domesday Book the town is listed as Brugie, while Brugia was also used. After the Norman invasion the land was given to Walter of Douai, hence becoming known variously as Burgh-Walter, Brugg-Walter and Brigg-Walter, eventually corrupted to Bridgwater. An alternative version is that it derives from "Bridge of Walter" (i.e. Walter's Bridge).
Bridgwater is mentioned both in the Domesday Book and in the earlier Anglo-Saxon Chronicle dating from around 800, owing its origin as a trade centre to its position near to the mouth of the chief river in Somerset. It was formerly part of the Hundred of North Petherton. In a legend of Alfred the Great, he burnt some cakes while hiding in the marshes of Athelney near Bridgwater, after the Danish invasion in 875, while in 878 the major engagement of the Battle of Cynwit may have been at nearby Cannington.
The Lord of the manor of Bridgwater was granted to William Briwere in 1201 by King John. Through Briwere's influence, the king had granted three charters in 1200 for the construction of Bridgwater Castle, for the creation of a borough, and for a market.
Bridgwater Castle was a substantial structure built in Old Red Sandstone, covering a site of . A tidal moat, up to wide in places, flowed about along the line of the modern thoroughfares of Fore Street and Castle Moat, and between Northgate and Chandos Street. The main entrance opposite the Cornhill was built with a pair of adjacent gates and drawbridges. In addition to a keep, located at the south-east corner of what is now King Square, documents show that the complex included a dungeon, chapel, stables and a bell tower. Built on the only raised ground in the town, the castle controlled the crossing of the town bridge. A portion of the castle wall and water gate can still be seen on West Quay, and the remains of a wall of a building that was probably built within the castle can be viewed in Queen Street. The foundations of the tower forming the north-east corner of the castle are buried beneath Homecastle House.
William Briwere also founded St John's hospital which, by the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, was worth a substantial sum of more than 120 pounds. He was also responsible for starting the construction of the town's first stone bridge and went on to found the Bridgwater Friary.
Other charters were granted by Henry III in 1227 (confirmed in 1318, 1370, 1380). These gave Bridgwater a guild merchant which was important for the regulation of trade, allowing guild members to trade freely in the town, and to impose payments and restrictions upon others.
Incorporation and rebellions During the 13th century Second Barons' War against Henry III, Bridgwater was held by Roger Mortimer, first Baron Mortimer against the King. Bridgwater's peasants under Nicholas Frampton took part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, sacking Sydenham House, murdering the local tax collectors and destroying the records.
Bridgwater was incorporated by charter of Edward IV (1468), confirmed in 1554, 1586, 1629 and 1684. Parliamentary representation as a borough constituency began in 1295 and continued until 1870, when the original borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption; from 4 July 1870 the town was incorporated within the county constituency of West Somerset. When parliamentary seats were redistributed for the 1885 general election, a new county division of Bridgwater was created. A variety of markets were granted to the town during the Middle Ages including a Midsummer fair (on 24 June), one at the beginning of Lent was added in 1468, and one at Michaelmas. The importance of these markets and fairs for the sale of wool and wine, and later of cloth, declined after medieval times. The shipping trade of the port revived after the construction of the new dock in 1841, and corn and timber have been imported for centuries.
In the English Civil War the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under Colonel Edmund Wyndham, a personal acquaintance of the King. British history might have been very different had his wife, Lady (Crystabella) Wyndham, been a little more accurate with a musket shot that missed Oliver Cromwell but killed his aide de camp. Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in the town, the castle and its valuable contents were surrendered to the Parliamentarians on 21 July 1645. The castle itself was deliberately destroyed (slighted) the following year, while in 1651 Colonel Wyndham made arrangements for Charles II to flee to France following the Battle of Worcester.
Following the restoration of the monarchy, in 1663 the non-conformist Reverend John Norman, vicar from 1647 to 1660, was one of several 'religious fanatics' confined to their homes by Lord Stawell's militia. A large religious meeting house, thought to have been Presbyterian, was demolished and its furniture burned on the Cornhill in 1683. By 1688, matters had calmed down enough for a new chapel, Christ Church, to be founded in Dampiet Street, the congregation of which became Unitarian in 1815.
In the 1685 Monmouth Rebellion, the rebel Duke of Monmouth was proclaimed King on the Cornhill in Bridgwater and in other local towns. He eventually led his troops on a night-time attack on the King's position near Westonzoyland. Surprise was lost when a musket was accidentally discharged, and the Battle of Sedgemoor resulted in defeat for the Duke. He was later beheaded at the Tower of London, and nine locals were executed for treason.
Bridgwater became the first town in Britain to petition the government to ban slavery, in 1785.
In 1896, the trade unionists of Bridgwater's brick and tile industry were involved a number of strikes. The government sent troops to the town to clear the barricades by force after the reading of the Riot Act.
Twentieth century and after
Journalist Vernon Bartlett was elected Member of Parliament in the 1938 by-election 1938. He stood as an independent candidate with an anti-Hitler campaign and campaigned against the Government's policy of appeasement.
In World War II the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal formed part of the Taunton Stop Line, designed to prevent the advance of a German invasion. Pillboxes can still be seen along its length. The first bombs fell on Bridgwater on 24 August 1940, destroying houses on Old Taunton Road, and three men, three women and one child were killed. Later a prisoner of war camp was established at Colley Lane, holding Italian prisoners. During the preparations for the invasion of Europe, American troops were based in the town.
The first council estate to be built was in the 1930s at Kendale Road, followed by those at Bristol Road. The 1950s saw the start of a significant increase in post-war housebuilding, with council house estates being started at Sydenham and Rhode Lane and the former cooperative estate near Durleigh.
On 4 November 2011 West Quay alongside the River Parrett and 19 adjoining properties were evacuated after a stretch of the retaining wall partially collapsed after heavy rain and flooding. A tidal barrier is under construction to protect around 12,800 homes, businesses and critical infrastructure from tidal flooding.
The old hospital in Salmon Parade, which was built in 1813, closed in 2014 and has been replaced with a community hospital in Bower Lane. The old hospital site is being converted as campus for training NHS staff
Governance
As a result of the Local Government Act 1972, the Borough of Bridgwater was amalgamated into Sedgemoor District Council, which became one of the original five district councils established within the administrative county of Somerset. On 1 April 2023 Sedgemoor, together with the four remaining district councils, were merged into a new, unitary authority, Somerset Council.
A new Bridgwater Town Council was created in 2003. It meets in Bridgwater Town Hall and has sixteen elected members representing six wards of the town: Bower (three), Eastover (two), Hamp (three), Quantock (three), Sydenham (three) and Victoria (two). The town council is responsible for matters allotments, bus shelters, play areas, street cleaning, cemeteries, certain parks, open spaces and heritage sites.
In 2018, Diogo Rodrigues became the first Portuguese national to be elected as a mayor in England, also becoming Bridgwater's youngest ever mayor.
The Bridgwater constituency has been represented in Parliament since 1295. After the voting age was lowered in January 1970, Susan Wallace became the first 18-year-old to vote in the UK, during the 1970 Bridgwater by-election that elected Tom King, who took the title Baron King of Bridgwater in 2001. At the 2010 General Election, Bridgwater became part of the new Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency. Following the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was re-established as plain Bridgwater for the 2024 general election, primarily formed from the now abolished of Bridgwater and West Somerset seat but excluding the area comprising the former district of West Somerset.2023 review South West Boundary Commission for England The current MP, elected in 2024, is Ashley Fox, a member of the Conservative Party.
Bridgwater was in the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament until the UK left the European Union in 2020.
Geography Bridgwater is centred on an outcrop of marl in an area dominated by low-lying alluvial deposits. There are local deposits of gravels and sand. It is situated in a level and well-wooded area, on the edge of the Somerset Levels. To the north are the Mendip range and on the west the Quantock hills. The town lies along both sides of the River Parrett, from its mouth, which then flows to discharge into the Bridgwater Bay national nature reserve. The nature reserve consists of large areas of mud flats, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. Bridgwater Bay has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The risks to wildlife are highlighted in the local Oil Spill Contingency Plan.
Climate