The Blake Museum

The Blake Museum is dedicated to the historic market town and port of Bridgwater, first mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1086! The museum is housed in a 16th century building on a quiet backstreet in Bridgwater that is reputed to be the birthplace of Robert Blake, who was Cromwell's General at Sea. It is free to visit, making it an inexpensive and interesting place to take the kids.

This is the local museum for archaeology and history of Bridgwater, but also the surrounding area, which includes villages extending from Highbridge and Burnham on Sea in the north to Thurloxton in the south, and Ashcott in the east to Nether Stowey in the west. The collections also cover people, entertainment, art, maritime, textiles, and WW1. There is also a Numismatics (currency) section, with coins, a small number of Somerset bank notes, military medal of local significance, and local public house and trade tokens.

You can see relics from the battle of Sedgemoor, a John Chubb gallery, plus information about the Duke of Monmouth. There is also a substantial photograph collection to discover, although many of these have not yet been individually catalogued as there are over 15,000! There is a textile collection, which contains many women's garments from the 19th century, plus Victorian fashion accessories, samplers, and the Bridgwater Historical Tapestry, made by the girls of Westover Secondary Modern School in 1951!