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Top Attractions in Bridgwater

Castle Street

Castle Street in Bridgwater, Somerset, England was built in the 1720s, on a site previously occupied by Bridgwater Castle, by Benjamin Holloway or Fort and Shepherd, the Duke's London surveyors for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. It was originally called Chandos Street. Many of the buildings have been designated as Grade I Listed buildings. The buildings are made of red and yellow Flemish-bond brick, with moulded stone coping to the parapet, and follow very similar lines. They form an important group, unusual for their scale and ambition outside London's West End. The buildings close to the quay on the River Parrett were built for the merchants who managed trade through the port, with the first bridge having been constructed in 1200 AD. Quays were built in 1424; with another quay, the Langport slip, being built in 1488 upstream of the town bridge. The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater town bridge by 400–500 tonne vessels. By trans-shipping into barges at the town bridge the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and to Ilchester. Many of the buildings still have undercroft vaults, some of which were used by the Customs House which was once at the lower end of Castle Street and led to the naming of Bond Street which adjoins Castle Street. Castle Street was used as a location in the 1963 film Tom Jones. In 2008, during sewer renovation work under Castle Street, a section of the curtain wall of the castle and a tunnel used to transport goods from the port were discovered.

St George's Church

The Anglican St George's Church was founded in the 13th century in the village of Wembdon within the English county of Somerset. The current building dates from the 14th and 15th century but was largely rebuilt in 1868 after a fire. It is a Grade II listed building. The church was granted by William Testard, lord of Wembdon Manor, to St John's Hospital, Bridgwater in 1284. The current red sandstone building was built in the 14th and 15th century in a perpendicular style with a west tower. In the churchyard is a 15th-century churchyard cross on an octagonal base. The shaft is approximately 1.9 metres high; however the head of the cross is missing. It is a Grade II listed building and ancient monument. There is also a set of stocks which were probably installed in the 17th century. They were moved to their current site and restored in 1916. The church was badly damaged by fire in March 1868, and as the certificate for fire insurance had expired, had to be rebuilt with significant local aid. The tower survived from the original building, however the rest of the structure was rebuilt to designs by J.M. Hay, which included the extension of the nave. The benefice of Wembdon is within the Sedgemoor deanery which is part of the Diocese of Bath and Wells.

Greylake

Greylake is a 9.3 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Middlezoy in Somerset, notified in 1987. This site, on the Somerset Levels, consists of 20 low-lying fields in the north west corner of Kings Sedgemoor, and includes the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Greylake nature reserve which has taken over arable farmland and is now home to lapwings, snipe, curlews, redshanks, yellow wagtails, skylarks and Meadow Pipits. This location is the type section for the Pleistocene Burtle Beds, as it is probably the most complete Burtle Beds sequence in Somerset. It demonstrates a sequence of fluvial gravels, marine intertidal silts and marine subtidal. Rich molluscan, ostracod and foraminifer assemblages and a mammalian fauna, including Red Deer, Aurochs and Fallow Deer have been recorded. Greylaike was flooded during the Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels.

Willow Man

Willow Man is a large outdoor sculpture by Serena de la Hey. It is in a field to the West of the M5 motorway, near Bridgwater in Somerset, South West England, near to the Bristol to Exeter railway line and junction 23 of the motorway. It stands 40 feet, with a 16-foot arm span, and is made of black maul willow withies woven over a 3-tonne steel frame. Willow Man was commissioned by South West Arts, for the Year of the Artist, and was unveiled in September 2000. It marks the millennium and celebrates the role of willow in the ecology and craft tradition of the Somerset Levels. The first sculpture was burnt down in an arson attack on 8 May 2001. The sculpture was rebuilt by the same artist in October 2001, and a 130-foot circular moat was excavated around it as a precaution against further attacks. A notable landmark, it can be described as a somehow permanent Wicker man sculpture. The sculpture is popularly known as Withy Man, or Angel of the South in reference to Antony Gormleys sculpture Angel of the North. The name Angel of the South is now commonly used also as the unofficial title for a proposed colossal sculpture in Ebbsfleet. In September 2006 Willow Man received "a £20,000 hair cut". The sculptor Serena de la Hey said that she thought many local birds had been using the material for their nests. When the artist saw her sculpture she was "shocked to see the wear and tear".

Telescopic Bridge

The Telescopic Bridge in Bridgwater, within the English county of Somerset, was built in 1871 to carry a railway over the River Parrett. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument and is a Grade II* listed building. The retractable bridge was built in 1871 to the design of Sir Francis Fox, the engineer for the Bristol and Exeter Railway. It carried a railway siding over the river to the coal yard and docks in the Port of Bridgwater, but had to be movable, to allow boats to proceed upriver to the Town Bridge. Part of the railway siding followed the route previously used by a horse-drawn tram which had later been converted to a mixed gauge rail system. An 80-foot section of railway track to the east of the bridge could be moved sideways, so that the main 127-foot girders could be retracted, creating a navigable channel which was 78 feet wide. It was manually operated for the first eight months, and then powered by a steam engine, reverting to manual operation in 1913, when the steam engine failed. The bridge was taken over from the Bristol and Exeter Railway by the Great Western Railway in 1876. The bridge was temporarily immobilised during World War II and last opened in 1953, and the traverser section was demolished in 1974, but public outcry at the action resulted in the bridge being listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and the rest of the bridge was kept. It was later used as a road crossing, until the construction of the Chandos road bridge alongside it, and is now only used by pedestrians. Parts of the steam engine were moved to Westonzoyland Pumping Station Museum in 1977, and other parts of the bridge mechanism to Didcot Railway Centre.

Quantock Lodge

Quantock Lodge is a green-grey nineteenth-century Gothic revival mansion built by Henry Labouchere, 1st Baron Taunton, to the design of Henry Clutton. It is built from Cockercombe tuff and is located near the hamlet of Aley, near the village of Over Stowey in the English county of Somerset. The house was described by Pevsner as "A large rather dull Tudor house... Gothic Stables, a specially crazy Gothic Dovecote and a big Gothic Lodge on the Aisholt Road." Quantock Lodge and its gatehouse are Listed Buildings. In 1869 on the death of Lord Taunton the house and estate passed to the eldest daughter the Hon. Mary Labouchere who married Edward Stanley in 1872. The house stayed in the Stanley family until 1919 when the 8,000 acre estate, house and contents were sold at auction over eleven days. The house was bought by Somerset County Council and was the Quantock Sanatorium until 1961. In the 1960s the house was purchased by David Peaster and made into a school which he headed along with Cotham School in Bristol. The first three pupils, Richard Williams, Laurie Booth and Tony Budget, came from Cotham High School. Quantock had a boys-only intake, mainly the sons of diplomats and armed services personnel. The 1960s and early 1970s saw a high point for the school, with it being described as "The Gordonstoun of the West". Cotham High School closed in 1966. In 1986 Quantock School went co-educational, but soon after the turn of the 1990s was in gradual decline, due in the main to the end of the Cold War and the closing of a number of overseas service bases, which in turn led to a drying up of new pupils. The return of the colony of Hong Kong to China in 1997 also had a serious impact on the school population. In 1998, Quantock School closed. Following the death of David Peaster in 2000, the school reverted to its former name of Quantock Lodge, and was remarketed by Peasters widow Jane as a centre for recreation and banqueting. It is also a recognised youth summer camp centre.

Castle House

Castle House in Bridgwater, Somerset, England was built in 1851 for William Ackerman. Much of the building is made of brick but it was one of the first buildings to make extensive use of Portland cement for pre-cast concrete. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building. The building includes many ornamental, and some structural uses of concrete demonstrating "an innovative interpretation of traditional masonry features in concrete". Castle House was a finalist in the 2nd BBC television series Restoration in 2004 and was supported by friends of Joe Strummer. It is included in the Heritage at Risk Register produced by English Heritage, and English Heritage provided funding for the restoration project. In 2012 a grant of £300,000 was made by NNB Generation Company as part of monies paid to the local community for the development of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station to the SAVE Trust for the restoration of Castle House. It is planned to transfer the building to the Bridgwater carnival once restoration is complete.

Bridgwater War Memorial

Bridgwater War Memorial is a Grade II* listed war memorial located on Kings Square in Bridgwater, Somerset, England, on the site previously occupied by Bridgwater Castle. It was designed by John Angel in the mid-1920s. The green figure of the memorial is allegorical, representing "Civilization as a seated female, holding a globe in one hand and with the book of knowledge on her lap." John Angel sculpted the Angel of Bridgwater. Mounted on a plinth, a female figure of Civilisation lofts the world, which is encircled by emblems of commerce and peace. Under her foot are the "demons of war." The throne and figure are backed by "relief depictions of Labour, Home, Life and Education." On her lap is a book of laws, and she is surrounded by children. Indeed, given its monumental breadth, the many details in the design, and its metaphorical and iconic form, the sculpture is subject to colorful and variant interpretations and description. The bronze was cast by W Morris Art Bronze Foundry. At the time, Angel was working four years as assistant to Sir George Frampton, and Framptons influence is apparent. Figures from the roughly contemporaneous Exeter War Memorial, specifically "Peace" were exhibited by Angel at The Royal Academy in 1922, being exhibited in the courtyard of Burlington House, as were other studies of the Bridgewater War Memorial on several occasions. On the third step these words are inscribed: "IN HONOUR OF THE MEN OF BRIDGEWATER WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918" The memorial was unveiled by a young Viscount Kilcoursie in 1924, to commemorate the fallen of World War I. Further names have been added following World War II, the Korean War. Falklands Conflict and the Afghan conflict. It has been characterised as, "An exceptionally fine and moving memorial, which forms an important focal point to this fine late Georgian square." In 2009 the memorial benefited from a small stipend from War Memorials Trust, which was used to replace bronze plaques and add a new one. The new plaques are said to be a precise match in form and typeface for those that were replaced.
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