In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Watchet like this:
WATCHET, a small seaport-town in St. Decumans parish, Somerset. It stands in the mouth of a fine oblique valley, flanked by cliffs of blood-red conglomerate, at the termini of the West Somerset and the West Somerset Mineral railways, 17 miles NW of Taunton; was known to the Saxons as Wecedport; suffered devastation by the Danes in 987 and 997; was given, at the Norman conquest, to the Mohuns; sent members to parliament in the time of Edward I.; presents now a mean and dingy appearance; carries on commerce in exportation of iron ore and farm produce, and in importation of coal and timber; has a long tidal harbour of 10 acres, well sheltered from all winds, and provided with a tolerable pier; acquired extensive improvements on the harbour, with breakwater, a new pier, a landing-slip, and other works, in 1861; and has a post-office‡ under Bridgewater, a r. ...
station with telegraph, a good inn, a custom-house, a coast-guard station, Baptist and Wesleyan chapels, an iron foundry, paper mills, a weekly market on Saturday, and a fair on 25 Aug. Pop., 916.
Watchet through time
Watchet is now part of West Somerset district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Somerset has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Watchet itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Watchet in West Somerset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/702
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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