Watchet is a small town beside the Bristol Channel in Somerset and is in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. It is sited at the mouth of a narrow valley where the harbour formed naturally after the last period of glaciation some 14,000 years ago. Fossils are found in cliffs and on the beaches nearby.

The name Watchet seems to derive from old British words which meant “the town beneath the wood”. Earlier forms of the name include Waesc, Waeced, Wecedport and Wacet. It is probable that the harbour was used for trade by Bronze and Iron Age men who had close contact with South Wales.The town was attacked five times by the Vikings. In Saxon times and continuing after the Norman Conquest it was an important port and had its own mint where coins were produced bearing the names of Kings Aethelred to Stephen (980-1150 A.D.). After the Normans arrived, lands and manors were owned by a variety of families for nearly 500 years until brought together as a manorial entity by the Wyndhams who still own much land and the manor called Orchard Wyndham.

The port thrived and was at its peak in the latter half of the 19th century. This coincided with the arrival of the main line railway. 557 vessels visited in 1862, the year after the present harbour was built. Pleasure boats used the facility as well as trading ships. Iron ore mined from the Brendon Hills was exported from the port having been transported to the dock via the West Somerset Mineral Railway. The mines and railway were closed in 1899. It is hoped to restore the latter in the near future. The port went into decline in the later part of the 20th century and is now used as a marina. One of the chief employers in the town has for many years been the Wansbrough Paper Mill which was opened in 1750 although there were other producers in the locality for many years before then.

Watchet has a literary claim to fame in that Coleridge is believed to have conceived the story of The Ancient Mariner whilst visiting the town. A statue on the esplanade commemorates this event and the town is on the recently opened Coleridge Way

A very readable book about the town is “A History of Watchet” by A.L.Wedlake

For more information about the town visit www.watchettowncouncil.org and www.visit-watchet.co.uk

Click on the Three Holy Sites button to find out more about the Church, Holy Cross Chapel and Well.