Watchet
Watchet | |
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Avon and Somerset | |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Watchet is a
The original settlement may have been at the Iron Age fort, Daw's Castle. It then moved to the mouth of the river and a small harbour developed, named by the celts as Gwo Coed meaning "under the wood".[2] After the Saxon conquest of the area the town developed, becoming known as Weced or Waeced,[3] and was attacked by Vikings in the 10th century. Trade using the harbour gradually grew, despite damage during several severe storms, with import and exports of goods including those from Wansbrough Paper Mill until the 19th century when it increased with the export of iron ore, brought from the Brendon Hills via the West Somerset Mineral Railway, mainly to Newport for onward transportation to the Ebbw Vale Steelworks. The West Somerset Railway also served the town and port bringing goods and people from the Bristol and Exeter Railway. The iron ore trade reduced, finally ceasing in the early 20th century. The port continued a smaller commercial trade until 2000 when it was converted into a marina. In 2016, Watchet joined the rest of West Somerset in receiving 'Opportunity Area' status.[4]
The church is dedicated to
East Quay Watchet is a purpose built art gallery and arts centre that opened in 2021.[5]
History
There is no sign of Roman occupation, but the Anglo-Saxons took Watchet from the native Britons around AD 680. Under Alfred the Great (AD 871−901) Watchet became an important port, and coins minted here have been found as far away as Copenhagen and Stockholm. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the early port being plundered by Danes led by Earl Ottir and a 'Hroald' (possibly Ottir's king Ragnall) in 987 and 997.[11]
Watchet is believed to be the place where Saint Decuman was killed around 706 and its parish church is dedicated to him. At the time of the Domesday Book Watchet was part of the estate held by William de Moyon.[12] The parish of Watchet was in the Williton and Freemanners Hundred in the Middle Ages.[13] T
With access to wood from the Quantock Hills, records show that paper making was established by 1652.[14] In the 15th century, a flour mill was established by the Fulford and Hadley families near the mouth of the Washford River. By 1587 the Wyndham estate had established a fulling and grist mill to the south west.[8] By 1652, the mill had started to produce paper.[14][15] In 1846 business partners James Date, William Peach and John Wansbrough bought the business and introduced mechanised-production using a water wheel-powered pulley system.[14][16] In the 1860s, the factory was converted to steam power and the local harbour was used to import raw materials and export finished goods.[15][17] Most of the mill was destroyed by fire in 1889, but it was rebuilt, and less than ten years later five paper-making machines were operating. The mill became the largest manufacturer of paper bags in the UK.[15][16] In 1896, the business became the Wansbrough Paper Company, a limited liability company, and the building became known as the Wansbrough Paper Mill.[14] With an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes of product and employing 100 people, it was the UK's largest manufacturer of coreboard, and also produced containerboard, recycled envelope, bag and kraft papers. In December 2015 the paper mill ceased production and closed.[18]
Harbour
Watchet developed as a town thanks to its closeness to the minerals within the Brendon Hills, and its access to the River Severn for onward shipping. Aside from local ships plying trade across the river, from 1564 onwards the port was used for import of salt and wine from France.[19] In 1643 during the English Civil War, a Royalist ship was sent to Watchet to reinforce for the siege of Dunster Castle. Parliamentarian (Roundhead) Captain Popham ordered his troops into the sea with the tide on the ebb, and with the ship unable to move, attacked the ship with fire from their carbines. Taken by surprise and under heavy attack, the Royalist commander surrendered the ship, resulting in a ship technically at sea being captured by troops on horseback.[20][21]
The primitive jetty was damaged in a storm of 1659, so that in 1708 leading local wool merchant Sir William Wyndham built a new harbour costing £1,000, with a stronger pier.[22][23] The main export at this time was kelp, made by burning seaweed for use in glass making.[22] In the 19th century trade increased with the export of iron ore from the Brendon Hills mainly to Newport for onward transportation to the Ebbw Vale Steelworks,[17] paper, flour and gypsum.[19] In 1843 the esplanade was built by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont, and in 1855 a new harbour was commissioned to cope with increased iron ore trade. The existing harbour was damaged and several vessels wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm on 26 October 1859.[24] A new east pier and wharf was completed in 1861−62 by James Abernethy. This allowed shipping movement to reach a peak, with over 1,100 ship movements per annum.[22] Harbour trade was aided by the coming of the railway, with two independent railways terminating at Watchet from the mid 1860s. The West Somerset Mineral Railway ran down from the iron mines on the Brendon Hills, and the West Somerset Railway came up from the Bristol and Exeter Railway at Norton Fitzwarren.[19] At the peak in the trade during the late 19th century 40,000 tons of ore were exported annually.[23]
In 1862, the cast-iron
After the
The port remained open to service the papermills, importing wood pulp and esparto grass from Russia and Scandinavia, using mainly East European registered vessels after the Second World War.[29] Requiring a return load, the result was that Watchet became a leading UK port for the export of car parts, tractors and other industrial goods. However, with the replacement of coal with oil from the mid-1960s, the port traffic began to terminally decline. The harbour was in commercial use until 2000, it has now been converted into a marina for pleasure boats.[23] It is surrounded by renovated quaysides and narrow streets. The commercial esplanade has been refurbished with new shelters, information points, and the provision of new paving in some areas, as well as railings, lamps, curved benches, planters and new tree plantings. There are several museums in the town, including the Market House Museum, which explores the history of the town and its harbour. The building was constructed in 1820 on the site of the previous market house which had been demolished in 1805. It was converted into a museum in 1979.[30] It houses a collection of exhibits about the natural history of Watchet and the surrounding area. The focus is on nautical and maritime history of the port.[31] Artefacts include those relating to: Archaeology, Coins and Medals, Land Transport, Maritime, Natural Sciences, Science and Technology and Social History.[32] At the rear of the museum building is the old town lock-up for the temporary detention of people, often drunks who were usually released the next day or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. The Watchet Boat Museum, which is housed in the 1862 Victorian architecture former railway goods shed, displays the unusual local flatner boats and associated artefacts.[33]
Lifeboat
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed a lifeboat at Watchet in 1875. The station was closed in 1944 by which time the nearby station at Minehead had been equipped with a motor lifeboat that could cover the area around Watchet.[34] The boat was launched from the slipway at the western corner of the harbour, but the boat house was at the southern corner near the railway station and the boat was taken along the quay on a carriage. Since closure the boat house has been converted into a library.[35]
Governance
The civil parish of Watchet is governed by a town council, having previously been Watchet Urban District.[36] Administratively, the civil parish falls within the Somerset West and Taunton local government district and the Somerset shire county. Administrative tasks are shared between county, district and town councils. In 2011, the parish had a population of 3,785.[1][37]
Watchet forms part of the Bridgwater and West Somerset county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of parliament (MP) by the First-past-the-post system of election. The current MP is Ian Liddell-Grainger, a member of the Conservatives.[38] Until Brexit in 2020, residents of Watchet formed part of the electorate for the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament.[39]
Geography
The foreshore at Watchet is rocky, with a high 6 metres (20 ft) tidal range. The cliffs between Watchet and Blue Anchor show a distinct pale, greenish blue colour, resulting from the coloured alabaster found there. The name "Watchet" or "Watchet Blue" was used in the 16th century to denote this colour.[40][41] A fragment of a lower jaw from a Phytosaur longirostrine archosaur has been described from early Hettangian strata.[42]
Kentsford Bridge is a packhorse bridge over the Washford River. It existed before the Reformation, possibly being a route to Cleeve Abbey and was repaired in 1613. The bridge is 54 inches (1,400 mm) wide and has a total span of 16 feet (4.9 m).[43]
Culture
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was written in 1797 whilst travelling through Watchet and the surrounding area. He lived at Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey and while living there he wrote "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison", part of "Christabel", Frost at Midnight and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.[44]
It is claimed that the sight of harbour, from St. Decuman's Church, was the primary inspiration for Coleridge to start the poem. In September 2003, a commemorative statue, by Alan B Herriot of Penicuik, Scotland, was unveiled at the harbour.[45]
Local traditions include Lantern Night, which is held on 16 September and involves children in the town with candle lanterns made from hollowed out root vegetables such as mangelwurzel or swede. It was the last remaining reminder of the Watchet Fair (also known as St Decuman's Fair).[46] Another tradition is Queen Caturn's Day on the last Saturday of November. Watchet was famous for its blue dye and Queen Caturn was so impressed she bestowed the town's folk with cider and cakes as a reward for this. The tradition is carried on with costumes and celebrations.
Media
Local news and television programmes are BBC West and ITV West Country. Television signals are received from the Mendip TV transmitter. [47]
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 102.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 102.4 FM, and West Somerset Radio, community based radio station that broadcast from the town on 104.4 FM. [48]
The town is served by local newspapers, West Somerset Free Press and Somerset County Gazette. [49][50]
Transport
Adjacent to the harbour is
The harbour was also linked, with a separate station, to the independent West Somerset Mineral Railway, that ran to iron ore mines in the Brendon Hills south west of the town. From Watchet the ore was carried across the Bristol Channel by ship to Newport and thence to Ebbw Vale for smelting to extract the iron. The line was ready for traffic from Watchet to Roadwater by April 1857,[53][54] Although the outward terminal of the line was to be the quay at Watchet, the pier had been practically unusable for some considerable time, and boats were beached and loaded direct from carts brought on to the foreshore.[19] After considerable public pressure, the Watchet Harbour Act was passed in 1857, placing it under the control of Commissioners; they built a new east pier and rebuilt the west pier; the work was finished in 1862, and 500 ton vessels could enter the harbour.[54] Passenger services were also provided from Watchet, however these were not financially successful and with the declining output from the Iron ore mines the line closed in 1898.[55][53] It briefly reopened in the early 20th century.[56]
The trackbed of the old West Somerset Mineral Railway now forms a path, which can be followed from the harbour at Watchet to Washford station, also on the West Somerset Railway.[33][57]
Education
The Knights Templar Church of England/Methodist Community School in Liddymore Road was built in 1990. It takes its name from the land on which it was built which was owned by the
Religious sites
The
The church was described by
St Decuman's well is below the church. It is a 19th-century reconstruction of the earlier well on the site which dates from the
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External links