368 BRIDLING ! :, with tit i.'levteery ai t in parts is mountain.' i-. A bridge, which . rossod , was destroy eel during tho Civil ':u living ia a reel. in tin' di" .nl. of ilT.'i, in tin HKIIM;VATKK, a par. and market town, municipal ihe-rn div. hmid. of Petherton, in rsct, 33 mi .,f I..,n<lnn, by tho Great Western niihviiy, cm vhi, h it is a st It ia situai. 'iiit 10 which the Parrel , and is mentioned in the Domesday Survey under the namo of Srugic ; 1 then <if a mill, mea- dow, and woodlands. Its present name is a corruption . signifying the " Hlielgi- of Waller ; " having been gucu by William the- Conq In Walter clc' II.. : I. Karly in the of king John, William de I'.ii. i. , who had ob- tained a grant of tho manor from Henry II., erected a castle hero (a stately and mngiii; . com- d the rebuilding of tli t.iincl founded the Hospital .>(' St. John for a master, hi. ; and 13 poor per- hospital v. '.id nourish. the Dissolution, when its rcven 1 to .IT.'!. The bridge, a atone structure of three arches, remained in. finished till the reign of Edwui i undertook it.- .-"mpl.ti'.n. Tin town tell ii. hands of the revoltc-d barons in the reign of Henry III. ia connected with it ti civil war in the reign of Charles I.. w hen the inhabitants espoused the cause of the king, and tho castle was gar- risoned by the royal forces under Col' .ml Wyndham. .'d by the parliamentary forces under Qi Fairfax, the garrison made a bravo defence, but was compelled to surrender, and the castle was then (July, dismantled. The Duke of Monmouth was warmly received and proclaimed king in this town just before the fatal fight on Sedgmoor, and heavy penalties were in- [ on the inhabitants at the hands of Judge Jeffreys and Colonel Kirkc. Bridgwater is situated in the . of a level tract of country, fertile and well-wooded, extending from the coast dong b..th sides of the- iicr Parrot, between tho lie n. lip lulls mi the. N.K., mid the Quantocks c n the S W. The prii stands on the W. bank of the Parret, and is connected with the other j art, called Eastover, by a good iron bridge of one arch. The streets, most of which are wide, are i with gas. The houses are well built, and there is a good supply of water. There is a townhall, a borough gaol, and a iniirket-hou.se, the. last a handsome modern c dilii with an Ionic ] and surmounted by a dome and lant. i n. The principu business of the place is the manufacture of In i various kinds, especially . i i Hath brick and scouring brick. These are made of the cl . A great niimhe r of persons :nr e mplo;. this trade. Tli. small Te*s<!s, an-1 the- Tannton -I in nitnt e|iiay belov tip. biii. by what is '*(, a snd : ;:ring- . whirli has a in tli lie-a, and t! nicies of im- port are' timber, grain, cools, win. . d the' principal c from South W.i.. - I'.. : 1 liiide r ii i i .' l,:i in ; !.. year 1200, the proTBions of w hi. ' .... the ' ' i i -' 'I I.- i ' '. ' l ' i ii(i : led into :.. wards, and governed by a 1 18 i, and burgesses of the borem It has n- d two members to pa] id of Edward I., whin the e 1 .111 it. 'I'll.- mayor i.- i . urning oflG parliamentary are the those oi th borough, which comprises, according i IM,I, -J.r.M inhabit, 'd he, uses, with 11 populati. against 10,317 in 18.51, showing an increase of l,i ugh has a
- <iO. Bridgwater is th. i-law
Dnion and the head of a Cuinr. summer assizes are hel (Quarter and petty se^^i y magistrates, an are held weekly. The town is a ] western division of Somenet.shin lie TO is acoait^^H station. The living is a vie-." unit, d with 11. in the dice, o i, in thu pUron. of the. lord c 1 dedicated to St. Mary Magd "^H with a good UAV. r at the west < nd, by a spire about 170 f. . t hiuh. Ith.sa ; tho decorated style, an of the Descent from th s*l during the revolutie.iiiiry w;.r. 'I ease, dedicated to tin Il.lv Tiinity and S -t ; the liitte r is itutted at I ivingl are perpct. curs.,* each worth H 1 " the gift of the; vie-ar of tho parish, ti nate gift of the crown and the bis I here are chapels belonging to the 1' Quiik. ins, and 1'e school, which was founded in 1561, has a sma mcnt worth about 28 a ye .r. Th pupils. The master is appointed by the ].-. free school, t.'iind.el ..mi . mlov. in 1723, has n r. are 140 in number, 30 of them be ii the charity. Th were built by the managers in I n an infirmary, endowed by Maji at the gi-ii called the / . formerly ; town. tit clisce.ntii .if duke, n '. elne -day 1- lii. I . but m;ii ! . rs tak in 1.. nt. ' mas fair. win. Ii is Ii. -Id unel. town in t' among anii
