Contact us
  • Welcome
  • About us
  • Area info
  • Mail list
  • Visit us
  • Links

About Bridgwater

Bridgwater Yesterday

A community has existed here in Bridgwater for about 1000 years. During this time, the town has inevitably altered much having developed and evolved in parallel with cultural, economic and technological changes.

A settlement was sited where Bridgwater now stands because of an area of slightly raised land which was less liable to flooding than the surrounding moors and formed a convenient site for crossing the River Parrett.

The settlement is listed in the Doomsday Book as an agricultural community called BRUGIE.

In 1200 AD William de Bruere was granted a Royal Charter for the Borough and at about the same time commenced construction of a castle on the west bank of the river.

By the 15th century the town had grown to about 300 houses and had become a thriving port. The cloth trade was well established and was the mainstay of the town?s prosperity, exporting woollen cloths from various parts of Somerset.

In the Civil War the town supported the Royalist cause and suffered grievously. In a major siege at the end of July 1645, Parliamentary artillery pounded the town for 3 days and destroyed virtually all the timber framed domestic and commercial buildings. Roundheads subsequently destroyed the castle as a reprisal for the town?s resistance.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the cloth trade enjoyed a further boom before falling victim to the industrial revolution, which moved the centre of commercial and industrial activity northward towards the sources of cheap power. As Bristol grew in importance the port and town of Bridgwater declined and into a long period of stagnation.

The commercial manufacture of roofing tiles and bricks and improvements to communications helped the town grow in the 19th century. The railway station was located to the east of the town and encouraged the growth away from the river.

During the 20th century the local brick and tile industry declined. The town welcomed new industries such as Cellophane and now has a much wider industrial and commercial base.