Editing Bridgwater (section)

===Bridgwater proper===
{{See also|Earls of Bridgewater}}
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 at the mouth of the chief river in Somerset. It was formerly part of the [[North Petherton (hundred)|Hundred of North Petherton]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18631 |title=North Petherton Hundred' |last=Dunning |first=RW |author2=C R Elrington |author3=A P Baggs |author4=M C Siraut |year=1992 |work=A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6: Andersfield, Cannington, and North Petherton Hundreds (Bridgwater and neighbouring parishes) |publisher=British History Online |pages=178–181 |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605002121/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18631 |archive-date= 5 June 2011 }}</ref> In a legend of [[Alfred the Great]], he burnt some cakes while hiding in the marshes of [[Athelney]] near Bridgwater, after the [[Denmark|Danish]] invasion in 875, while in 878 the major engagement of the [[Battle of Cynwit]] may have been at nearby [[Cannington, Somerset|Cannington]].<ref name="bhocan">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18555&strquery=Cannington |title=Cannington |access-date=13 January 2008 |work=British History Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525112241/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18555&strquery=Cannington |archive-date=25 May 2011 }}</ref>

[[William Brewer (justice)|William Briwere]] was granted the [[Feudalism|lordship]] of the [[Manorialism|Manor]] of Bridgwater by [[John of England|King John]] in 1201,<ref name="somharbours"/> and founded [[Bridgwater Friary]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12435 |title=Franciscan Friary and later mansion, Bridgwater |work=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=6 January 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003095521/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12435 |archive-date= 3 October 2016 }}</ref> Through Briwere's influence, King John granted three charters in 1200; for the construction of Bridgwater Castle, for the creation of a [[borough]], and for a market.<ref name="arch"/><ref name="curio">{{cite book |title=Curiosities of Somerset |last=Leete-Hodge |first=Lornie |year=1985 |publisher=Bossiney Books |location=Bodmin |isbn=0-906456-98-3 |pages=75 }}</ref> [[Bridgwater Castle]] was a substantial structure built in [[Old Red Sandstone]], covering a site of 8 or 9&nbsp;acres (32,000 to 36,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup>). A tidal [[moat]], up to {{convert|65|ft|m|0}} 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 [[drawbridge]]s. 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 {{convert|12|ft|m|0}} thick 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bridgwater.net/Town/About_Town/castle/bridgwater_castle_trail.htm |title=Bridgwater Castle Trail |publisher=Bridgwater Town Web |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524115841/http://www.bridgwater.net/Town/About_Town/castle/bridgwater_castle_trail.htm |archive-date=24 May 2011}}</ref> William Briwere also founded St John's [[hospital]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://exmoorencyclopedia.org.uk/contents-list/34-b/182-bridgwater.html |title=Bridgwater |access-date=6 June 2012 |work=Everything Exmoor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421123459/http://exmoorencyclopedia.org.uk/contents-list/34-b/182-bridgwater.html |archive-date=21 April 2012 }}</ref> which, by the time of the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]] under [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]], was worth the substantial sum of almost 121 [[Pound Sterling|pounds]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.friarn.co.uk/StJohn/ |title=The Hospital of St John the Baptist Bridgwater |publisher=Friarn.co.uk |access-date=28 March 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509124643/http://www.friarn.co.uk/StJohn/ |archive-date=9 May 2008 }}</ref> as well as starting the construction of the town's first stone bridge. William Briwere also went on to found the [[Franciscan]] [[Bridgwater Friary]] in the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/2955970/Bridgwater-Friary-Somerset |title=Bridgwater Friary, Somerset |publisher=Wessex Archeology |access-date=6 January 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114215057/http://www.scribd.com/doc/2955970/Bridgwater-Friary-Somerset |archive-date=14 January 2012 }}</ref>

During the 13th century [[Second Barons' War]] against [[Henry III of England|Henry III]], Bridgwater was held by the [[baron]]s against the King. Other charters were granted by Henry III in 1227 (confirmed in 1318, 1370, 1380), which 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.<ref name="somharbours"/> Bridgwater's peasants under Nicholas Frampton took part in the [[Peasants' Revolt]] of 1381,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.friarn.co.uk/StJohn/ |title=The Hospital of St John the Baptist Bridgwater |publisher=Friarn.co.uk |access-date=18 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905023651/http://www.friarn.co.uk/StJohn/ |archive-date=5 September 2010 }}</ref> sacking [[Manor of Sydenham|Sydenham House]], murdering the local tax collectors and destroying the records.<ref>{{cite web |title=Radical History |work=Bridgwater |url=http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~smedlo/Bridgwater/Bridgwater.htm|access-date=20 January 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071110000713/http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~smedlo/Bridgwater/Bridgwater.htm |archive-date=10 November 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Robert Blake statue at bridgwater.jpg|alt=In the foreground is a statue of a man on a plinth above steps, with person sitting on them. In the background is a church tower. The picture is arranged so that the outstretched arm with a pointing finger of the figure appears to be touching the top of the tower.|thumb|upright|The [[Blake Statue|statue of Robert Blake]] at Cornhill, Bridgwater, with [[Church of St Mary, Bridgwater|St Mary's Church]] in the background (1998).]]
Bridgwater was incorporated by charter of [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]] (1468),<ref name="arch"/> 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;<ref name="craig1832-1885">{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |author-link= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 |orig-year=1977 |edition= 2nd |year=1989 |publisher= Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn= 0-900178-26-4 |pages=61–62}}</ref> from 4 July 1870 the town was incorporated within the [[county constituency]] of [[West Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Somerset]]. When parliamentary seats were redistributed for the [[1885 United Kingdom general election|1885 general election]], a new county division of [[Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgwater]] was created.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1885/mar/17/disqualification-of-voters-for-corrupt |title=Disqualification of voters for corrupt practice |date=17 March 1885 |work=HC Deb vol 295 cc1502-57 |publisher=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |access-date=4 April 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504000405/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1885/mar/17/disqualification-of-voters-for-corrupt |archive-date= 4 May 2014 }}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Baggs |first1=A. P. |last2=Siruat |first2=M. C. |title=Bridgwater |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol6/pp192-206 |website=British History Online |publisher=Victoria County History |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025192334/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol6/pp192-206 |archive-date=25 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Baggs |first1=A. P. |last2=Siruat |first2=M. C. |title=Bridgwater: Local Government |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol6/pp223-228 |website=British History Online |publisher=Victoria County History |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025201618/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol6/pp223-228 |archive-date=25 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=National Gazetteer (1868) - Bridgwater |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Bridgwater/Gaz1868.html |publisher=GENUKI |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315234416/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Bridgwater/Gaz1868.html |archive-date=15 March 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Western Section |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/researchandarticles/westernsection |website=National Fairground Archive |publisher=University of Sheffield |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063441/https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/nfa/researchandarticles/westernsection |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Somerset |date=18 June 2003 |url=http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/somer.html |publisher=Centre for Metropolitan History |access-date=3 November 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304091159/http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/somer.html |archive-date= 4 March 2016 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="bush">{{cite book|last=Bush|first=Robin|author-link=Robin Bush (historian)|title=Somerset: The Complete Guide|publisher=Dovecote Press|location=Wimborne|year=1994|pages=[https://archive.org/details/somersetcomplete0000bush/page/41 41–44]|isbn=1-874336-26-1|url=https://archive.org/details/somersetcomplete0000bush/page/41}}</ref>

[[Gunpowder Plot]]ter [[Guy Fawkes]] is remembered during the carnival season, including a grand illuminated procession through Bridgwater town centre, which culminates in the [[West Country Carnival|Squibbing]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cavalierscc.co.uk/Squibbing.htm |title=Squibbing |publisher=Cavaliers Carnival Club |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728042259/http://www.cavalierscc.co.uk/Squibbing.htm |archive-date=28 July 2011 }}</ref> Bridgwater, being staunchly Protestant at the time of the plot celebrated the thwarting of the conspiracy with particular enthusiasm.

In the [[English Civil War]] the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under [[Edmund Wyndham|Colonel Edmund Wyndham]], a personal acquaintance of the [[Charles I of England|King]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dunning|first1=Robert|title=Bridgwater: History and Guide|date=1992|publisher=Sutton Publishing|isbn=978-0750901925|pages=47–50}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bridgwatersomerset.info/history_4_english_civil_war.php |title=The English Civil War |publisher=Bridgwater Somerset |access-date=13 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100305181400/http://www.bridgwatersomerset.info/history_4_english_civil_war.php |archive-date=5 March 2010 }}</ref> 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 ([[Slighting|slighted]]) the following year, while in 1651 Colonel Wyndham made arrangements for [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] to [[Escape of Charles II|flee to France]] following the [[Battle of Worcester]].<ref name="bush"/>

Following the [[English Restoration|restoration of the monarchy]], in 1663 the [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|non-conformist]] Reverend John Norman, [[vicar]] from 1647 to 1660, was one of several 'religious [[Fanaticism|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.<ref name="protBridg">{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18649 |title=Bridgwater:Protestant nonconformity |access-date=20 January 2008 |work=British History Online |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140504015939/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18649 |archive-date= 4 May 2014 }}</ref> By 1688, matters had calmed down enough for a new chapel, Christ Church, to be founded in Dampiet Street, the congregation of which became [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] in 1815.<ref name="protBridg"/><ref>{{NHLE |num=1197371 |desc=Christ Church Unitarian Chapel |access-date=20 January 2008}}</ref>

In the 1685 [[Monmouth Rebellion]], the rebel [[James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/139%2Epdf |title=Sedgemoor Battle and Monmouth Rebellion Campaign |last=Foard |first=Glen |work=UK Battlefields Resource Centre |publisher=The Battlefields Trust |access-date=14 June 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010618/http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/139.pdf |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}</ref> 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]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/DukingDays.htm |title=Monmouth's rebellion and the Battle of Sedgemoor |access-date=21 November 2007 |work=Historic UK |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102114736/http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/England-History/DukingDays.htm |archive-date= 2 November 2007 }}</ref> and nine locals were executed for treason.<ref name="bush"/>

The [[Chandos Glass Cone]] was built in 1725 as a glasswork firing kiln by [[James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos]] as part of an industrial development. After a short period of use for [[glassmaking]] it was converted for the production of pottery, bricks and tiles, which continued until 1939. The majority of the brickwork cone was demolished in 1943. The bottom {{convert|2.4|m}} has been preserved and scheduled as an [[ancient monument]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Chandos Glass Cone, at the junction of Northgate and Valetta Place |num=1019899 |access-date=10 January 2015 }}</ref><ref name=sher>{{cite web|title=Chandos Glass Kiln, Bridgwater |url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11119 |website=Somerset Historic Environment Record |publisher=Somerset County Council |access-date=10 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003105235/http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11119 |archive-date= 3 October 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boore |first1=Eric |last2=Pearson |first2=Terry |title=Red Earthenware Pottery from the Chandos Glass Cone, Bridgwater |journal=Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society |date=2009 |volume=153 |pages=129–140 |url=http://www.sanhs.org/Documents/SANHS%20Chandos%20Glasscone%20part%201.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150110191952/http://www.sanhs.org/Documents/SANHS%20Chandos%20Glasscone%20part%201.pdf |archive-date=10 January 2015 |access-date=10 January 2015 }}</ref>

Bridgwater became the first town in Britain to petition the government to ban [[slavery]], in 1785.<ref>{{cite web |title=Slavery on the Plantations & Elsewhere |url=http://jss.org.uk/cw/Charles_Waterton/slavery.htm |publisher=Charles Waterton |access-date=5 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219003516/http://www.jss.org.uk/cw/Charles_Waterton/slavery.htm |archive-date=19 February 2012 }}</ref>

The population of Bridgwater in 1841 was 9,899.<ref>The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol III, London, Charles Knight, 1847, p.802</ref>

In 1896, the [[trade unions|trade unionists]] of Bridgwater's brick and tile industry were involved a number of strikes. The [[Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury|Salisbury]] government sent troops to the town to clear the barricades by force after the reading of the [[Riot Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bridgwatertown.info/history_7_the_brickyard_strike.php |title=The Brickyard Strike of 1896 |publisher=Bridgwater Somerset info |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721190010/http://bridgwatertown.info/history_7_the_brickyard_strike.php |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref>

[[File:Bridgewater map 1946.jpg|alt=Old map showing the main roads and the river.|thumb|right|upright=1.35|A map of Bridgwater in 1946]]
A [[1938 Bridgwater by-election|by-election]] in 1938 enabled the town to send a message to the government and [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], when an Independent anti-[[Appeasement#Appeasement of Hitler|appeasement]] candidate, journalist [[Vernon Bartlett]] was elected MP.<ref>{{cite web |title=Vernon Bartlett: Biography |url=http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbartlett.htm |publisher=Spartacus Educational |access-date=13 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709031523/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PRbartlett.htm}}</ref>

In [[World War II]] the [[Bridgwater and Taunton Canal]] formed part of the [[Taunton Stop Line]], designed to prevent the advance of a [[Germany|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 [[Italy|Italian]] prisoners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kg6gb.org/pow_camps_in_uk.htm |title=POW camps in the UK |publisher=Malcolm Sanders |access-date=13 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127041949/http://www.kg6gb.org/pow_camps_in_uk.htm |archive-date=27 January 2010 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> During the preparations for the [[Operation Overlord|invasion of Europe]], American troops were based in the town.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Somerset Boy Remembers an American Soldier |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/55/a3846855.shtml|work=WW2 Peoples War |publisher=BBC|access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-date=19 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719212037/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/55/a3846855.shtml}}</ref>

The first [[council house|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.localhistories.org/bridgwater.html |title=A brief history of Bridgwater |last=Lambert |first=Tim |publisher=Local Histories.org |access-date=14 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615054809/http://localhistories.org/bridgwater.html |archive-date=15 June 2010 }}</ref>

On 4 November 2011 West Quay alongside the [[River Parrett]] and 19 adjoining properties were evacuated after a {{convert|40|m|ft}} stretch of the retaining wall partially collapsed after heavy rain and flooding.<ref>{{cite news|title=Bridgwater wall collapse residents wait to return home |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-15618249 |access-date=7 November 2011 |newspaper=BBC |date=7 November 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108074529/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-15618249 |archive-date= 8 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=RIVER UPDATE: 'Expect extended delays' |url=http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/9347056.RIVER_UPDATE___Expect_extended_delays_/ |access-date=7 November 2011 |newspaper=Bridgwater Mercury |date=5 November 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119040850/http://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/9347056.RIVER_UPDATE___Expect_extended_delays_/ |archive-date=19 January 2012 }}</ref> The old hospital in Salmon Parade, which was built in 1813,<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Bridgwater Hospital |num=1187299 |access-date=14 January 2017 }}</ref> closed in 2014 and has been replaced with a community hospital in Bower Lane. This provides a maternity unit and 30 inpatient beds.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bridgwater Community Hospital |url=http://www.sompar.nhs.uk/what-we-do/community-hospitals/bridgwater-community-hospital/ |publisher=Somerset Partnership |access-date=14 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116171019/http://www.sompar.nhs.uk/what-we-do/community-hospitals/bridgwater-community-hospital/ |archive-date=16 January 2017 }}</ref> The old hospital site has been sold for development at a price of £1.6 million, and may be turned into a hotel.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former Bridgwater Community Hospital sold for £1.6m|work=BBC News|date=13 January 2017|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-38614678|access-date=14 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Bridgwater's old Hospital on Salmon Parade sold for £1.6m|url=https://www.bridgwatermercury.co.uk/news/15022105.see-how-much-bridgwaters-old-hospital-has-been-sold-for-and-what-will-happen-to-it/|access-date=12 November 2018|work=Bridgwater|date=13 January 2017}}</ref>