Bridgwater Castle
Bridgwater Castle was in the town of Bridgwater, Somerset (grid reference ST302378).
The castle was built in 1202 by William de Briwere. It passed to the king in 1233 and in 1245 repairs were ordered to its motte and towers. During the 11th century Second Barons' War against Henry III, Bridgwater was held by the barons against the King.
In the English Civil War the town and the castle were held by the Royalists under Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham. Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in the town, the castle and its valuable contents were surrendered to the Parliamentarians. The castle itself was deliberately destroyed in 1645.
The only surviving remains of the castle that can be identified with certainty are the Water Gate and the remains of the curtain wall on either side of it, the latter now incorporated in the walls of modern buildings.
References
- Bridgwater Castle
- Fry, Plantagenet Somerset, The David & Charles Book of Castles, David & Charles, 1980. ISBN 0-7153-7976-3
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