Index

• The Dark and Middle Ages
  • The Dark Ages
  • The Middle Ages
  • Bridgwater Castle
  • Town's Mediaeval Layout
  • St Mary's Church
  • St John's Hospital
  • Grey Friars
• Bridgwater's Fairs and Markets
  • The Earliest Fairs
  • St Matthew's Fair
  • Markets and Trade
• Bridgwater Carnival
  • Bridgwater Carnival
  • Historical Background
  • Cornhill Bonfire
  • The Final Bonfire
  • Squibbing
  • Early Disasters
  • The Evolution of Carnival
  • Carnival Concerts
• 17th Century
  • English Civil War
  • Admiral Blake
  • The Plague
  • Monmouth Rebellion
• River and Shipping
  • Earliest Records
  • Blossoming Trade
  • Shipbuilding
  • Docks
  • Bertha the Dredger
• 18th Century
  • Stage Coach Travel
  • The Iron Bridge and the Turnpike Trusts
  • The Architectural Legacy
  • Entertainment
• Bridgwater and Slavery
  • Somerset Rebels Sold into Slavery
  • Bridgwater’s Petition
  • A Slave Speaks Out in Bridgwater
• 19th Century
  • Political Corruption
  • Disenfranchised
  • Advent of the Railway
  • Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway
  • Utilities
  • Bridgwater’s Regiment
  • The Borough Constabulary 1834-1940
  • The Bridgwater Workhouses
  • The Brick and Tile Trade
  • The Brickyard Strike of 1896
  • Bath Brick
  • Wicker Products
• Early 20th Century
  • Introduction
  • Introduction of Electricity
  • The New Fire Stations
  • The Launch of the Irene
  • An Unwanted Suffragette
  • First World War
  • Changes in Transport
  • Between the Wars
• Second World War
  • Vernon Bartlett
  • The Day War Broke Out
  • Rationing and Restrictions
  • Prisoners of War
  • Women’s Land Army and the War Effort
  • Air Raids
  • Home Guard and Returning Heroes
  • VE Day
• Late 20th Century
  • Post War Bridgwater
• Around and About the Town
  • Admiral Blake Statue
  • Bridgwater Infirmary
  • Blake Gardens
  • The Cannon
  • Castle Street
  • The Cornhill
  • Friarn Street
  • King Square
  • The Old Vicarage
  • Penel Orlieu
  • Royal Clarence
  • Salmon Parade
  • Town Hall
• Lesser known Bridgwater Worthies
  • Captain George Lewis Browne, William Hubber and the Battle of Trafalgar
  • John Clark, Inventor of the Mackintosh
  • Denis Heron
  • Frances Barkley
  • Brother John Somer
  • Fanny Talbot
• Did You Know?
  • Did You Know?

History

History Home

Bridgwater can boast the most interesting and eventful history of any town in Somerset.  From its humble origins in the Dark and Middle Ages, it developed a strategic significance during the mediaeval period when it acquired its bridge and castle.  It grew to be a town with a maritime trade, ship building, a booming brick and tile industry and a legacy of markets and a fair, which survives today, along with its world-famous illuminated carnival.  Through the bloody days of the 17th century, it experienced the Civil War at first hand, with the downfall of the enormous Bridgwater Castle, and the Monmouth Rebellion when so many townsfolk rallied to the Protestant call, only to suffer death as hundreds were hung, drawn and quartered whilst others were transported into white slavery in the West Indian sugar plantations. 

Stage coach travel, corrupt elections and a workhouse which could boast a thirty percent mortality rate over the winter period all add to the colourful past of this former market town.  The rise and fall of the brick industry acted as a prelude to the years of First World War and First World War l.  Discover more about Bridgwater’s rich history, learning of its most interesting characters by selecting from the list to the left.

The sections are all categorised, simply click a heading and its relevant sections will appear below.

Text Copyright © 2008 Roger Evans