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
