The Bridwater Borough Archives stretch from the thirteenth century through to 1974, and are held on behalf of the Town Council by the Somerset Heritage Centre. The records up to 1485 were transcribed by Thomas Bruce Dilks. It is hoped further documents will be published in the future. Bridgwater is very lucky to have extensive surviving records from its entire history.
Descriptions of the Borough Archives
William Henry Black, Description of the Borough archives, 1856
Henry Thomas Riley, Reports on Borough archives, 1871 and 1873
Sydney Gardnor Jarman, The Muniments of the Borough, 1889
Notes and Queries, Review of Jarman’s History of Bridgwater, 1892
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Introduction to the Bridgwater Borough Archives, 1200-1377, 1933
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Introduction to the Bridgwater Borough Archives, 1377-1399, 1938
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Introduction to the Bridgwater Borough Archives, 1400-1445, 1943
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Introduction to the Bridgwater Borough Archives, 1445-1468, 1945
Robert Dunning, Introduction to the Bridgwater Borough Archives, 1468-1485, 1971
Tony Woolrich, Notes on the Publication of Borough Archives vol.5 and what happened to the materials for Volume 6, 2019
Research Relating to aspects of the Borough Archives
Rev W.A. Jones, Transcription and Discussion of the Inventory of the Aisle of St Katherine, 1858
J. Edwin Odgers, Short Report on some MS Accounts of the Commonalty of Bridgwater, 1877
F.W. Weaver, Bridgwater in the Olden Time, 1896
Thomas Bruce Dilks, The Burgesses of Bridgwater in the Thirteenth Century, 1917
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Some Documentary Oddments, 1918-1946
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Bridgwater Wills 1310-1497, 1922
Thomas Bruce Dilks, Bridgwater Insurrection of 1381, 1927
Thomas Bruce Dilks, A lottery in Jacobean Bridgwater, 1932
Thomas Bruce Dilks, The Bridgwater Carol, 1936