| Castle Street | |
|---|---|
 Commemorative plaque | |
  Location within Somerset | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Town or city | Bridgwater |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°07′46″N 3°00′09″W / 51.1295°N 3.0025°W |
| Construction started | 1723 |
| Completed | 1728 |
| Client | James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Benjamin Holloway |
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.[1] 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.[2]
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.[3] Quays were built in 1424; with another quay, the Langport slip, being built in 1488 upstream of the town bridge.[3] The river was navigable, with care, to Bridgwater town bridge by 400–500 tonne vessels.[4] By trans-shipping into barges at the town bridge the Parrett was navigable as far as Langport and (via the River Yeo) 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.[5]
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.[6][7]
- ^ "Castle Street". Bridgwater Town Council. Retrieved 23 August 2017.
- ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus (1958). Buildings of England: Pevsner N: South and West Somerset.
- ^ a b Dunning (1992), page 193.
- ^ Fitzhugh (1993). pp. 6-7.
- ^ "Bridgwater Castle". History. BridgwaterSomerset.info. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ^ Beal, James (10 March 2008). ""Outstanding" smugglers tunnel unearthed beneath Castle Street". Bridgwater mercury. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ^ "Watching brief (2008), Castle Street, Bridgwater". Somerset Historic Environment Record. Somerset County Council. Retrieved 8 May 2009.