Admiral Blake Statue
Bridgwater’s best known landmark rather amazingly was not erected until 1900 when public contributions amounting to £1,200 paid for the hollow casting in bronze. Originally positioned in front of the Cornhill dome, it was controversially moved to its...
Blake Gardens
Two and a half acres of gardens, alongside the river, form the Blake Gardens which were unfortunately cut in half when the Blake Bridge and Broadway were opened in 1957. The gardens were purchased by the corporation in 1898 from Mr. R C Else. The summ...
Blake Museum
Blake Museum is a 16th century house located in the heart of Bridgwater, a historic market town and port, first mentioned as Brugie in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Museum was first opened to the public in 1926 and it is said that Robert Blake, the town's...
Bridgwater Infirmary
Bridgwater was expanding and becoming industrialised throughout the nineteenth century. Inevitably such a town required its own hospital and the one which stands on Salmon Parade dates back to 1813 when a hospital was started in Back Street, now ...
Bridgwater Town Hall
The Town Hall was opened in July 1865, built by C Knowles using Bridgwater Brick, Wembdon sandstone and Bath stone for the architectural features. Three stories high, it is in the Georgian style with a stucco frontage and stands on the site of the ol...
Castle Street
Built in 1723 by the architect Benjamin Holloway for the Duke of Chandos, it was then called Chandos Street and is a superb example of Georgian architecture. At 11 Castle Street is the Bridgwater Arts Centre which was the first Arts Centre in Great Br...
Friarn Street
This is the site of the old Grey Friars priory . The Plymouth Brethren, who moved into the town in the 1840s, moved from their Gloucester Place premises to Friarn Street in 1868. The street is also the home of the local Quakers whose Friends’ Meeting...
King Square
King Square once formed a significant part of the old castle site. The fine houses on the south and east sides of the square date back to the 1820s and the new council offices on the north side have been sympathetically designed to blend with the ear...
Penel Orlieu
Bridgwater’s most unusual place name is derived from the junction of Orloue Street (later to be called Prickett’s Lane and now Market Street) and Paynell Street (now Clare Street). Until 1935 this was the centre of the cattle market and it was in thi...
Royal Clarence
For many years, Bridgwater’s premier hotel was the Royal Clarence. It was built in 1825 in the Regency style on the site of the former Angel and The Crown . It was originally called the Royal Hotel until an occasion when the Duke of Clarence, later to ...
Salmon Parade
Once called Salmon Lane, this riverside road is dominated by the town’s hospital, but between it and the bridge is an interesting row of former fishermen’s cottages. Salmon was one of the main catches and, whilst it seems amazing that salmon could h...
The Cannon
Take a visit to the Bristol Road cemetery and as you walk along the entrance path leading down through the graves, there in the top right corner of the field is a white marble cross with the caption ‘Erected by friends to commemorate one of the gallant six ...
The Cornhill
The Cornhill has always been the historic centre of the town. In 1779 an Act was passed to erect a market house and several houses were demolished to create the necessary space. Before long, it was enlarged and that work was completed in 1826 when the ...
The Old Vicarage
St Mary Street contains a line of fourteenth century cottages including the Old Vicarage Restaurant which was given in the sixteenth century by Edward de Chedzoy to be used as a vicarage and that was how it remained until around a hundred years ago. The...
Brick and Tile Museum
The Museum tells the story of brick and tile making, one of the many labour-intensive industries once found in Somerset. The core of the Museum is the only traditional brick kiln remaining in the South West. It was one of six at the former Barham Brothers’ Y...
Bridgwater Arts Centre
Situated in the heart of Sedgemoor...…Bridgwater Arts Centre has been in existence on the Castle Street site since 1946 and this year celebrates its 75th Anniversary.We run a theatre programme of performance , music and film ; plus...