This section of the website explores the courts, police and legal professionals of the town of Bridgwater. Over the centuries there have been numerous manorial, borough, district, assize and county courts held in the town, and in time we hope to explore these all. There have also been a range of policing efforts, starting with the borough constables, and the eventual establishment of a police force. There are three notable disused court houses surviving in the town, one being the Town Hall, which for many years was the Assize Hall. At the top of Court Street stands the County Court, then in Northgate is the Magistrates Court.
Courts and Courthouses
1729 to 1847
by J.P. Polak
Police and Police Stations
This section is still to be written. Bridgwater had its own police force from 1836 to 1940. A police station stood on High Street, where the Engine Room is located today. The town was also had a county police station on the corner of Dampiet and Blake Streets.
External Links: George A Barnett, Chief Constable 1893-1909
Law Firms and Lawyers
Again, these are to be written, although various biographies of the likes of James Cook, Paul Octavious Haythorn Reed, Edward Trevor, Thomas Foster Barham and others, can be found on the website of the Friends of the Wembdon Road Cemetery.