Venue Type & Location
Overview
The medieval guild or town hall survived on Fore Street until the early 19th c. when the corporation moved to another building.
Performance History
As the seat of civic government and centre for festive occasions, Bridgwater's town hall was probably the venue for most performances by touring entertainers before the mayor and city officials before 1642.
Current Status
History of the Venue
1354 A guildhall with the hall on the upper storey and booths at ground level first recorded on Fore Street (VCH: Somers 6.202).
18th c. Rooms included a burgess hall or council house, a serjeants' hall and a small library and records room.
1808 Building dilapidated; demolition proposed.
1822 Corporation relocated to the grand jury room in the assize hall on High Street. Old town hall probably demolished about the same time.
1823 Corporation moved to a new building in the neoclassical style adjoining the assize hall.
1865 New town hall in Venetian style built on the site of the former assize hall.
Record Source
REED Somers 1.41--59
Patrons who owned this venue
[No data found.]
Bibliographic Sources
- Dilks, Thomas Bruce, ed. Bridgwater Borough Archives: 1200--1377. Frome and London: Somerset Record Society, 1933
- Page, William, and R.W. Dunning, eds. The Victoria History of the County of Somerset. 4 vols. London; Oxford: Constable [vols 1--2]; Oxford UP [vols 3--8], 1906--12 [vols 1--2]; 1974--2004 [vols 3--8]
- Pevsner, Nikolaus. North Somerset and Bristol. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1973