Watchet
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.2|View along Swain Street, Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of the Washford River on Bridgwater Bay, part of the Bristol Channel, and on the edge of Exmoor National Park.
Key facts
- UK place.population
- 3,785
- UK place.country
- England
- UK place.static_image_name
- Watchet.jpg
- UK place.static_image_alt
- View of multiple houses with sea on the left and hills in the background.
- UK place.static_image_caption
- View overlooking Watchet
- UK place.official_name
- Watchet
- UK place.civil_parish
- Watchet
- UK place.unitary_england
- Somerset Council
- UK place.lieutenancy_england
- Somerset
- UK place.region
- South West England
- UK place.constituency_westminster
- Tiverton and Minehead
- UK place.post_town
- WATCHET
- UK place.postcode_district
- TA23
- UK place.postcode_area
- TA
- UK place.dial_code
- 01984
- UK place.os_grid_reference
- ST074431
- UK legislation.type
- Act
- UK legislation.parliament
- Parliament of the United Kingdom
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Harbour
- Lifeboat
- Governance
- Geography
- Culture
- Media
- Transport
- Education
- Religious sites
- Notable people
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
thumb|upright=1.2|View along Swain Street, Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset, England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated west of Bridgwater, north-west of Taunton, and east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth of the Washford River on Bridgwater Bay, part of the Bristol Channel, and on the edge of Exmoor National Park.
The original settlement may have been at the Iron Age fort, Daw's Castle. It then moved to the mouth of the river and a small harbour developed. After the Saxon conquest of the area the town developed, becoming known as Weced or Waeced, and was attacked by Vikings in the 10th century. Trade using the harbour gradually grew, despite damage during several severe storms, with import and exports of goods including those from Wansbrough Paper Mill until the 19th century when it increased with the export of iron ore, brought from the Brendon Hills via the West Somerset Mineral Railway, mainly to Newport for onward transportation to the Ebbw Vale Steelworks.