The Bonded Warehouse


Behind and below the West Quay Wall is the Bonded Warehouse. These were probably built for the Duke of Chandos in 1723 by John Payne, his agent in Bridgwater. Payne was charged by the Duke to build a warehouse, with one covering arch and five houses in what is now Castle Street. Due to mismanagement Payne was eventually dismissed and replaced by Benjamin Holloway, the builder of the Lions.[1]

It has been suggested that the Bonded warehouse may ghost the line of the medieval undercrofts: the back wall is medieval and of a substantial thickness. The castle wall facing West Quay has been tunnelled out in three places from the warehouse, to create two small vaults and a passage through the wall. [2]

Cross section from West Quay on the left to Bond Street on the right, showing the castle wall incorporated into later buildings. Note the change in level from the Quay to Bond Street as well as the vaulted Bonded Warehouses to the right. Detail from Somerset Record Office A\CMY/100, alteration plans for the offices of Watergate House. © H. A. D. Gibson
The Warehouse looking south. Photographs taken 2010.
The Warehouse looking north. The doors at the end open onto Chandos Street.
The passage carved through the castle wall.
The vault carved into the castle wall.
Bond Street, from Chandos Street, looking south. Note the rise in the street level.

[1]  Baker and Baker The Life and Circumstances of James Brydges, First Duke of Chandos (London, 1949) pp.222-223
[2]  Sidaway, C., ‘Bridgwater Castle, West Quay’ in the Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society (Vol.135 1991) p.169