Start and Finish at Kings Square
Site of the main part of Bridgwater Castle. Held then lost in 1643 by the Royalist Edmund Wyndham. A certain General Oliver Cromwell was almost killed twice during the siege. Once by Wyndhams wife Christabella – who had by this time taken to walking the castle walls in her nightclothes extolling the unimpressed townspeople below to ‘fight for their king’, took the opportunity to have a pot shot at Cromwell – apparently killing the man next to him. The Castle was dismantled in 1645.
- Part of a medieval stone wall with a Jetty that jutted out into the street.
- Green Dragon Lane: Once the site of Lonsdale House School. It was regarded as one of the town’s more successful private schools of the later 19th century, known for at least part of its life as the Collegiate School. It moved to Malmesbury (Wilts.) in 1946
- St Mary Street contains a line of fourteenth century cottages including the Old Vicarage Restaurant where the control is situated, 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 and twenty five years ago. The original building was built of wattle and daub, and if you look up above the control you can see an example of this is exposed in the wall. On the front wall is an unusual opening which appears to be bottle shaped. One theory is that it was used to pass tankards of mulled drinks out to the coachmen who remained onboard their stage coaches as their passengers dined inside in the warmth of the building. The Old Vicarage is certainly the oldest domestic premises in the town.
- The frontage of this former Wesleyan chapel dates from 1816 with the addition of the late 19th-century loggia. The chapel behind was extended in 1860. The building has been disused for worship for nearly 30 years.
- Castle wall, watergate and undercroft. C13. Within the base of the wall close to north of watergate are 2 vaults approx 2 high. The River Parrett formerly came right up to the wall. Behind the wall, parallel to it, is a barrel-vaulted brick-lined C18 undercroft over 40m long and 10m wide formerly used as a bonded warehouse, giving the name to Bond Street. On leaving control 11 you will pass ‘The Lions’ once owned by the architect Benjamin Holloway, c. 1730, The most distinguished house in the town. It is of five bays and two storeys with a basement. The full-height centre piece is approached by steps which rise from a courtyard flanked by single-storeyed wings.
- The Chandos Glass Cone was built in 1725 as a kiln for a glassworks. The remains have been scheduled as an ancient monument. After a short period of use for glassmaking the kiln was converted to the production of pottery, bricks and tiles, which undertaking continued until 1939. Most of the cone of brickwork was demolished in 1943.
- With the Parrett having a 30 foot tidal rise and fall, and limited space along the quayside, the logic of having a dock with a constant water level became clear. It was 1840 when the dock as we see it today was built.
- Start of the Bridgwater to Taunton canal.
- On the corner of Angel Place you are crossing over where the private railway line went to the back of the old Brewery.
- Robert Blake (27 September 1598 – 7 August 1657) was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century, whose successes have “never been excelled, not even by Nelson” according to one biographer. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England’s naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into the early 20th century. Despite this, due to deliberate attempts to expunge the Parliamentarians from history following the Restoration, Blake’s achievements tend not to receive the full recognition that they deserve.
- Blake Museum is a 16th century house. The Museum was first opened to the public in 1926 and it is said that Robert Blake, the town’s most famous citizen, was born in the house in 1598
- The ‘summer house’ is situated within Blake Gardens. Some sources suggest that the area now occupied by Blake Gardens was originally part of the grounds to a house nearby (now part of No.3 Blake Street) that has C17 origins. A town plan of circa 1835 shows that by this date the land had become the garden to Binford House which is shown occupying the northern end of the plot, at the junction between King Street and Dampiet Street. Binford House was demolished and replaced by a public library (Grade II listed) which opened in 1905. The building has previously been described as a garden seat but based on documentary research it may have been a summer house.
- The construction of Bridgwater Bridge c. 1200 and pontage levied on its users indicate the importance of the east-west river crossing, and routes both east and south of the town over low-lying marshes had to be causewayed.
- A section of the old Castle wall and evidence of a well can be seen here. The walls were built mainly of red Wembdon sandstone, on a foundation of Blue Lias from central Somerset. Archways and windows were trimmed with the fawn-coloured Ham stone from South Somerset.