This is the index page for historical notes on Bridgwater’s various historic industries. By the eighteenth century Bridgwater had developed small industries in bring making and casting, both of which were expanded in the ninetieth. The nineteenth century saw the rapid expansion of new industries, such as shirt and collar manufacturing, and industrial methods were applied to old crafts, such as wicker furniture making. All suffered greatly in the mid-twentieth century. Although some manufacturing still occurs in the town, sectors such as the brick and tile making are completely gone. We hope to expand this page in the future, and contributions are welcome.
Overviews
Bridgwater Industry Past and Present by Edmund Porter, 1971
Catalogue for the Bridgwater Industries Exhibition, 1948
Brick and Tiles
The Process of Handicraft Brick Making By Charles Tomlinson, 1852
Colthurst, Symons and Co. 1840-1900 by Clare Spicer and Jill Trethewey
Brickyard Strikes 1886-1896 by Clare Spicer and Jill Trethewey
Inventory of the Dunball Steam Pottery , c.1886 By MKP
Clay Recollections: a memoir of growing up by one of Bridgwater’s brickyards 1930s and 1940s by Colin Symons Cooper
Auction Catalogue for the selling of two factory sites of John Board & Co. in 1960.
Ropemaking
Where were Bridgwater’s Ropewalks? by Clare Spicer and Jill Trethewey.
The Process of Rope Making By Charles Tomlinson, 1852
The Bridgwater Wire Rope Works By Paul Berryman, 2020
Iron and Brass Working, with Clockmaking
The Bridgwater Bell Foundries (1739 to 1833), and comparisons with other Founders on the Severn Estuary at those times at Chepstow and Gloucester. By Geoffrey R. Marchant, 2019
Bell Founding in Bridgwater, Thomas Pyke & the Gaol Bells By Tony Woolrich, 2019
Bridgwater Clockmakers through the ages by N. & D. Woodford, 2019
Photography
York & Son, Lantern Slide Manufacturers By Dr Peter Cattermole, 2009