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Bridgwater, Somerset, England, depicting the Church of St Mary Magdalene, the Statue of Admiral Blake and the Corn Exchange: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridgwater_cornexchange_staute_and_church.jpgAuthor: Ken Grainger
Bridgwater began as a settlement during the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 9th century or perhaps earlier. It was mention in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of ca. AD 800 as well as listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. After the Norman Conquest, the Manor of Bridgwater was granted to William Briwere by King John of England in 1201. Briwere built Bridgwater Castle in 1202. It was destroyed during the English Civil War, and the site is today redesigned as King's Square. In 1245 Briwere also founded Bridgwater Friary in 1245. Bridgwater Friary was a Franciscan monastery which functioned until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII in 1536-41.
The Port of Bridgwater was in the 16th century the fifth largest port in England. It was the largest port in Somerset until surpassed by Bristol in the 18th century. Never involved in the slave trade, Bridgwater in 1797 became the first town in the county to petition the government to ban it.
Visiting Bridgwater
From London, take the M4 motorway to Junction 20, then continue west on the M5 motorway. Bridgwater is at Junction 23 of the M5 motorway.
Somerset Brick and Tile Museum, Bridgwater: Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brick_and_tile_factory.jpgAuthor: Ken Grainger
Places of Interest in Bridgwater
- Blake Museum: Museum occupying the house where Admiral Robert Blake (1598-1657) was born.
- Castle House: Historic building in Bridgwater with a Grade II* heritage listing. Built in 1851, it was one of the first buildings to make extensive use of Portland cement for pre-cast concrete.
- Church of St Mary Magdalene, Bridgwater: Anglican parish church with history going back to the 13th century. It is today a Grade I listed building.
- Somerset Brick and Tile Museum: Museum occupying the last surviving pinnacle kiln in Bridgwater, it celebrates the brick and tile industry with displays explaining the tools and processes.
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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.
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