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History

The Middle Ages

CastlePrior to the arrival of William the Conqueror in 1066, Harold was on the throne and Bridgwater, still called just Bryj, was just one of many communities which came under the lordship of the Saxon Merleswain.  Merleswain wasn’t even a local man.  He was the Sheriff of Lincolnshire but a close friend of the king.  So Bridgwater was in his lordship, and in the North Petherton Hundred.  In other words it was not the centre of the local universe, North Petherton was.  The size of Bridgwater in 998 AD, relative to its neighbours can be gathered from the Dane-geld collected, i.e. the taxes which were collected, were as follows:

Middlezoy                                         12 shillings
Bridgwater                                         5 shillings
Puriton                                                5 shillings
Woolavington                                     4 shillings
Wembdon                                           3 shillings
Durleigh                                              6 pence

In 1066, William invaded England and gave parcels of land to his supporters as a thank you gift.  Bridgwater, Wembdon, Bawdrip, Horsey, Pawlett, Huntspill, Burnham and Brean, and various other manors, were given to Walter from Douai in France.  Walter however took up residence in Bampton in Devon, but Bryj, the quayside on the River Parrett, now belonged to him and henceforth would be known as Walter’s Quayside, Bryj of Walter, Bridgwater.  This explains the lack of the extra ‘e’ in the middle of the town’s name – so it’s not the ‘e’ that’s missing but the ‘l’ from Walter. 
The Saxon days were over but Saxon names survived.  Sydenham was Saxon for wide meadow, Hamp was a homestead, Bryg was a quayside, or some believe a fording place, and the town was split into Eastover and Westover, in fact ‘estufer’ and ‘westufer’, ufer being Saxon for bank, hence east and west bank.  But there was still no bridge!  In 1086, the Domesday Book recorded the following, albeit in Latin:

Walter holds Brugie.  Merleswain held it at the time of King Edward, and it was assessed at the Dane-Geld for 5 hides.  The arable  land is 10 carucates.  In demesne (the land held by the Lord himself) are 3 carucates and 5 servants, 13 villanes (slaves), 9 bordars (wood cutters and the like) and 5 cottagers with 8 ploughs.  There is  a mill of 5 shillings rent and 10 acres of meadow, and 100 acres of coppiced wood and 30 acres of pasture.  When Walter received it, it was worth 100 shillings (£5) and is now worth £7

A hide is basically an extended family and the land which supports them.  A carucate can be equated to the amount of land an ox is capable of ploughing.  So we have a picture of a small community, perhaps five extended families and nearby there was Sydenham, a quarter of a hide, and Hamp with its 1 hide, 4 ploughs, 4 slaves, 1 villager, 7 smallholders with 1 plough, 15 acres of meadow and 3 acres of woodland.  Each of these was a separate community.  Then, on each side of the town there appeared to be the farms which gave us East Bower and West Bower, the latter on the edge of Durleigh. 

 

William Brewer

The turning point for Bridgwater came in the year 1200 with  King John on the throne.  In earlier years, Brewer had been instrumental in delivering the ransom money which paid for the release of Richard the Lionheart when he had been incarcerated in Germany.  In later years, 1215, he would be at King John’s side advising on the signing of the Magna Carta.  Brewer had recognised the potential for Bridgwater to be more than just a quayside.  He knew that if a bridge could be thrown across the river, the village would become a strategic point in Somerset with tall-masted ships bringing goods in from the Bristol Channel being unable to sail beyond the bridge.  Thus Bridgwater would become a transport depot where sea-borne goods would be transferred from ships to barges, and horse and foot traffic would cross the River Parrett using the new bridge, unhindered by the tide.
Such a crossroads of land and river routes would require a castle to defend it.  King John, in his second year on the throne, was with William Brewer in France, travelling to Chinon, near Tours.  On the way, Brewer suggested to King John that Bridgwater was an ideal location for a bridge and a castle.  As the day progressed, scribes began to draw up the charter which would grant Bridgwater its freedom, giving it borough status allowing burgage rent to be collected by the town’s reeves and putting an end to serfdom.  During the evening of June 26th, 1200, King John placed his seal upon the charter and Bridgwater as a free town was born.  It was time for William Brewer to turn his vision to a reality.  A town with a bridge, a commercial centre unlike any other in the county.

 

The Charter - translated

John, by the Grace of God, et cetera.  Know ye that we have given and granted, and have confirmed, by this present charter, to our beloved and faithful William Brewer, that Bridgwater shall be a free borough and that there be a free market there, and a fair every year that shall last during eight days, that is to say, from the day of the nativity of the Blessed John the Baptist; with paagio (tolls for pasturage), pontage (tolls for using the bridge), passage (ferry money), lastage (tolls for loading and unloading vessels), stallage (for stalls at the fair or market), with all the other liberties and free customs appertaining to a free borough, and to a market and fair.  We grant also to the aforesaid William that the aforesaid burgesses of the aforesaid borough be free burgesses, and be quit of all toll, pontage, passage, lastage and stallage, and have all liberties and free customs and quittances which appertain to us through our land, except the City of London.  Wherefore we will and firmly ordain that the aforesaid William, and his heirs after him, have and hold all the things aforesaid well and in peace, happily and quietly, wholly and fully, and honourably, with all their liberties and free customs as aforesaid.

There were in fact three charters. One granting permission to build a castle, another permitting the free borough and a third permitting various fairs and markets.  The freedom of the burgages was a significant benefit to the townsfolk.  Until the granting of the charter, anyone who worked the land was obliged to give occasional days of service to the lord of the manor.  Inevitably this obligation would be called on at the very time the individual was busiest, perhaps at harvest time.  The end of serfdom meant that an individual could pay a tax instead, probably about a day’s pay.  The going rate was a shilling per burgage per year and the penalty for non-payment was to have one’s doors sealed up until settlement was made.
The burgesses were allowed to hold their own court once a month on a Monday to deal with minor crimes; trespass, fraud, debt and environmental issues such as ditch clearance, the removal of offal, short measure, trading too close to someone selling the same items and regrating.  This latter offence is committed when an item is bought and then sold at a higher price on the same day. 

Under Brewer’s guardianship, the town began to prosper.  He built the bridge, originally a wooden affair.  Between 1200 and 1210, he built the castle, a magnificent castle, to defend the bridge and the town. 

 

Text Copyright © 2008 Roger Evans

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