Descriptions of Bridgwater

This page compiles all the known descriptions of Bridgwater by outsiders from the middle ages to the twentieth century. These were compiled by antiquarians, travel writers, directories and tourist guides. Each one gives a fascinating insight into how the town has changed over the centuries. Please let us know if you are aware of a source we have missed, and we’re eager to include more from before 1950.

1415–c.1485: William Worcestre notes on Bridgwater

1540: John Leland visits Bridgwater

1607: William Camden’s description of Bridgwater

1727: Daniel Defoe’s description of Bridgwater

1742: John Stuckey, description of Bridgwater

1751: Stephen Whatley, description of Bridgwater

1791: John Collinson, descriptions of Bridgwater

1799: Richard Warner, mention of the Bore and a Pottery Peddler

1803: Charles Dibdin, description of Bridgwater

1805: Rees’s Cyclopaedia, description of Bridgwater

1810: Rev. J. Nightingale, description of Bridgwater

1810: George Alexander Cooke, description of Bridgwater

1835: Report on the Borough of Bridgwater

1849: Samuel Lewis, description of Bridgwater

1851: A. Fullarton, description of Bridgwater

1852: Charles Knight, description of Bridgwater

1856: British Archaeological Association, visit to Bridgwater

1868: National Gazeteer of Great Britian: ‘Bridgwater’

1870: John Marius Wilson, description of Bridgwater

1893: C.R.B. Barrett, description of Bridgwater

1896: Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society visits Bridgwater

1900: Kelly’s Directory of Somerset on Bridgwater

1911: Encyclopaedia Britannica, description of Bridgwater