Description

BRIDGWATER

ST2937 NORTHGATE
736-1/5/140 (North side)
06/06/73 Bridgwater Dock, Tidal Basin, locks,
quaysides, bridges and fittings
(Formerly Listed as:
NORTHGATE
(North side)
Bridgwater Dock and Tidal Basin, inc
locks, quaysides, fittings & 2
bridges)

GV II

Dock and installations. Opened 1841. By Thomas Maddicks. Blue
lias stone, granite, timber and cast-iron.
Long rectangular dock to the south-west connected by a lock
and bridge to the trapezoid tidal basin to the north-east. The
dock walls are of coursed stone, timber upright fenders to
south, the quay edges are granite to north and south-east and
fronting Wares Warehouse (qv); to south and south-west they
are of freestone; the north-west side is C20. The 3 sets of
locks, to west into the Bridgwater and Taunton canal, to east
into the tidal basin and from it a lock for barges into the
River Parrett, are lined with brick.
A double-leaf bascule road bridge which worked on the same
principle as Tower Bridge London, though this was manually
operated, connects the banks between the 2 basins and C20
concrete works have immobilized the wide gates to the ship
entrance of the tidal basin which worked as a huge lock.
The tidal basin quays are of thin upright freestone blocks,
surrounded by many small winches on pedestals with the
machinery protected by metal housing, bollards, and railings.
The main dock has a cogged base of a crane turntable to the
south-west and C20 railings.
Flanking the lock between the basins are large winches with
chains in cast-iron housings.
History: Thomas Dawe Maddicks, b1801 and a relatively unknown
engineer, is credited with the work. In 1840 the sluicing and
scouring devices designed by him were rare and it is possible
the Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was constructing the railway
and had designed Bridgwater Station, may have advised him. The
Canal Company built a brick kiln to use some of the clay spoil
to make bricks and tiles for the structures associated with
the dock. The dock is situated where the River Parrett,
navigable for 3-400 ton vessels, joins the Bridgwater-Taunton
canal.
(Murless B J: Bridgwater Docks and the River Parrett:
Bridgwater Somerset: 1983-: 15; Buchanan C A: Guide to
Industrial Archaeology of Central Southern England: London:
1980-: 116; VCH: Somerset: London: 1992-: 193).

Listing NGR: ST2966437539

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26491865

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas