Bridgwater Heritage Group – Online Research for a Somerset Town

This website was founded by the late Dr Peter Cattermole in October 2012. It was re-formed in March 2016 and is intended to complement the work and collections of the Blake Museum, and the work of the Bridgwater and District Archaeological Society, the Bridgwater and District Civic Society and the Friends of the Wembdon Road Cemetery. The site welcomes contributions from local historians, as well as memoirs about the town. See our Notes for Contributors page.

When this Group began much emphasis was given to publishing illustrated accounts of the historic sites and buildings of Bridgwater, but since then the scope has broadened to cover historic texts about the town. These have been digitised from original sources and edited in A4 format, and are PDF documents so that readers can download and print them for further study. The goal has been to create an educational resource for the town, of value not only for local historians, but also for school pupils and college students. Aspects of the Town’s history have been well covered in recent years with books appearing on Carnival, Railways and Pubs, but there are conspicuous gaps. These include the various cultural groups: choirs, dramatics and the arts generally. Bridgwater shops. Sport. Education. Dissenting churches. Manufacturing generally. There are certainly more topics that might be added.

The site is entirely free to use, with no adverts. However, if you enjoy this site you can support us here, or buy a book from the store. All proceeds go towards the cost of maintaining this website. Similar groups in other communities are very welcome to adapt this approach to recording their town’s history. Any interested in doing so are invited to make contact via the web-site to discuss methods.

The logo/banner image at the top of the page is of Bridgwater Stone Bridge, a nineteenth century engraving by Thomas Hair, after John Chubb, (1746-1818).

Recent Updates

4 December 2021: Bridgwater Alfred Monday 5 December 1831 – Further news on the subscription – £50 allocated to buy blankets and rugs for the poor. Notice for householders to improve their drains. Political editorial attacking Unitarian schoolmasters. Death of a poor Irishman called McCarthy returning from Rio de Janeiro on his way to Bristol to sail to Ireland.

29 November 2021: Various resources relating to John Chubb (1746-1818), including manuscript and letter transcriptions & a sketch family biography.

26 November 2021: Bertha, the docks dredger, and George Watkins on the Telescopic Bridge.

25 November 2021: Bridgwater Alfred 28 November 1831.

25 November 2021: Gallant Little Ships of the Past The Bridgwater Coasters by W.A. Sharman
1934

23 November 2021: Danger on the River Parrett 1840-1860, kindly supplied by Jillian Trethewey, Hilary Southall and Clare Spicer

21 November 2021: The Irene of Brigwater

21 November 2021: Robin Hood of Bridgwater

2 November 2021: Festival of Remembrance November 1936 kindly supplied by Cerrie Williams

30 October 2021: Photographs of the dramatic fire of August 1973 at the Bowerings Mill, kindly supplied by Brian Hunt, with additional notes, added to the Oil and Cake Mill Page.

22 October 2021: Durleigh, by Rev. Edward H. Smith

13 October 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 21 November 1831

5 October 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 14 November 1831. Includes a mention of a meeting for Cholera precautions

22 September 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 7 November 1831

21 September 2021: Is killing in an union workhouse criminal, if sanctioned by the Poor Law Commissioners? by John Bowen, 1839

19 September 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 31 October, 1831

8 September 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 24 October, 1831

7 September 2021: New pictures and additional notes added to The Telescopic Bridge research page. Images kindly supplied by Jon Gridley.

31 August 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 17 October 1831

29 August 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 10 October 1831

15 August 2021: Notes on St Margaret’s School, Northfields

15 August 2021: Bridgwater Alfred, 3 October 1831

31 July 2021: St Mary’s church and the Bridgwater newspapers 1868-1879

31 July 2021: To the Independent Electors of Bridgwater, 1818

30 July 2021: The Stained Glass of St Mary’s Church, Bridgwater

26 July 2021: Draft List of the Streets of Bridgwater and the Names

17 July 2021: The Bristol Road Cemetery, 1878

17 July 2021: The Ship and Castle Inn, West Quay (later, the Watergate Hotel)

17 July 2021: Bridgwater Castle in The Topographer, May 1790, Volume 2, number 5

15 July 2021: S t Marys in the Bridgwater Newspapers, 1846-1856

13 July 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 26 September 1831

12 July 2021: St Mary’s Church in the Bridgwater Newspapers 1831-1833

12 July 2021: The Symbolism of St Mary’s Descent from the Cross

3 July 2021: Members of the Lords Committee of enquiry of 1838 into the 1834 Poor Law Act

3 July 2021: Opening of the YMCA, Friarn Avenue, Thursday 20 November 1969

3 July 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 17 September 1831

26 June 2021: A Timeline of the Bridgwater Infirmary

15 June 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 12 September 1831.

14 June 2021: The Northgate Union Workhouse

6 June 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 5 September 1831.

28 May 2021: John Angel’s War Memorials, kindly supplied by David Baker

25 May 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 29 August 1831.

24 May 2021: John Bowen’s The Reform Poor Law; with some account of its working in the Bridgwater Union, 1837

22 May 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 22 August 1831.

12 May 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 15 August 1831.

11 May 2021: The Bridgwater Alfred, 10 August 1831.

10 May 2021: John Bowen’s Letter to His Late Majesty; containing a refutation of some of the charges preferred against the poor 1835

28 April 2021: Facts Connected with the Medical Relief of the Poor in the Bridgwater Union, 13 November 1837

26 April 2021: Transcripts of all 19 days’ hearings of the House of Lords Select Committee on the working of the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act in Bridgwater, 1838

21 April 2021: John Bowen’s biography of William Baker, 1854

19 April 2021: Parishes in the Bridgwater Poor Law Union

12 April 2021: John Bowen’s The Union Work-House and Board of Guardians System, 1842

30 March 2021: General Index to the Bridgwater Poor-Law Union evidence to the Lords select Committee of 1838 concerning the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act.

29 March 2021: Blacklands

28 March 2021: Introduction, List of Witnesses and List of Poor Law Districts Bridgwater Poor-Law Union evidence to the Lords select Committee of 1838.

28 March 2021: In Commemoration of Admiral Robert Blake, June 1956

21 March 2021: The ‘Old Armoury’, Unitarian Schoolroom and Burial Ground, Friarn Street

7 March 2021: Full transcriptions of Bowen’s Twelve Letters concerning the Poor Law in Bridgwater, 1837-8

28 February 2021: Summary Investigation of the Sion Chapel site from 2008 by kind permission of Bill Moffat

26 February 2021: Notes on the direction of Dr Morgan’s School, 1860

26 February 2021: The opening of the United Methodist Chapel, Monmouth Street

23 February 2021: Introduction to Bowen’s Twelve Letters to the Times about Poor Law Reform

22 February 2021: The West Street School and the Ragged School, kindly supplied by Clare Spicer

14 February 2021: The Opening of Westfield House, 1965

5 February 2021: Notes on the Lower Bath Road Market

4 January 2021: List of pew sittings in St. Mary’s Church, Bridgwater, compiled by John Bowen, 1830

30 December 2020: The belfry chimes of St Mary’s Chuch