Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker.

During the reign of King Alfred it became one of the four most important settlements in Dorset – the other three being Dorchester, Shaftesbury and Wareham – with the construction of fortifications and establishment of a mint.

In the early 10th century the Burghal Hidage recorded the existence of a fortified centre or burh in this area, called 'Brydian',[2] which is generally accepted as referring to Bridport.

In 1253 the town was awarded its first charter by Henry III,[5] and by the subsequent reign of Edward I Bridport sent two members to Parliament.

[8] The earliest official record of this industry dates from 1211, when King John ordered that Bridport make "as many ropes for ships both large and small and as many cables as you can".

[9] The raw materials needed, flax and hemp, used to be grown in the surrounding countryside, though they were superseded in modern times by artificial fibres such as nylon.

[10] Bridport's main street is particularly wide due to it previously having been used to dry the ropes, after they had been spun in long gardens behind the houses.

[13] At the end of the war in 1651 Charles II briefly stayed in the town at The George Inn as he sought to escape Parliamentarian forces after his defeat at the Battle of Worcester.

[5] Older buildings can be found in South Street, and include the 13th-century St. Mary's parish church, the 14th-century chantry and the 16th-century Bridport Museum.

The town centre is sited between the small River Brit and its tributary the Asker, about 800 yards (730 m) north of their confluence, at an altitude of 10–15 metres (33–49 ft).

The geology of Bridport comprises rocks formed in the Pliensbachian, Toarcian, Aalenian, Bajocian, Bathonian and Callovian ages of the Jurassic Period, overlain by superficial Quaternary deposits of alluvium alongside the rivers.

The land beneath the town centre and to the west and southwest (around the neighbourhood of Skilling) is mostly Eype Clay, a micaceous mudstone, though slightly younger Down Cliff Sand crowns the hill at Watton Cross.

To the south east however, the faults running east from the lower Brit Valley are associated with a change to slightly younger material, mostly calcareous mudstones and sandstones (Fuller's Earth, Frome Clay and Forest Marble), with small outcrops of Cornbrash limestone and Kellaways Formation to the south of Bothenhampton parish church.

The town's most notable landmark is the conical Colmers Hill, its distinctive shape and small clump of summit trees being very noticeable from West Street.

[36] Several national chains have stores in the town, including WHSmith, Boots, Morrisons, Co-op, Superdrug, Waitrose, and Fat Face.

[36][41] The food retail catchment area of the town extends up to 5 miles north, east and west, and in 2001 had a population of 19,200.

It closed down in 1999 but an ensuing campaign to 'Save the Palace' resulted in the building being listed before being bought by a new owner and refurbished to include a digital projector, auditorium murals, a new restaurant and art deco bar.

Bridport Museum, located in South Street, includes an extensive exhibition of the town's long history of rope-making.

Frederick Harcourt Kitchin, under the pseudonym Bennet Copplestone, used the area in his 1922 novel The Treasure of Golden Cap.

The main feature is a carnival parade of floats, walking acts and majorettes, with other attractions including a car boot sale, fete and funfair.

On the following night a torchlight procession takes place, with 1,500 torches carried 2 miles from the town centre to a bonfire at West Bay.

Other one-day events include the West Bay Wallow,[56] a charity swim event in which participants often wear fancy dress, organised by the Bridport Round Table on Boxing Day, and a raft race in the River Brit basin, also at West Bay, in July; it is organised by the RNLI and participants race in homemade rafts and usually wear fancy dress.

Routes which start in the town include the A3066, which heads north through Beaminster towards Crewkerne, and the B3157 coast road to Weymouth.

In 2017 Dorset County Council cut all rural bus subsidies in the area and so most of the surrounding villages are not served by scheduled services, with the exception of buses provided mainly for school transport but upon which the public is allowed to travel.

There is a strong connection with the Bridport United Church (Methodist/URC) and the two hold joint services, study groups and children's holiday clubs.

[64] Bridport has a history of nonconformism; a Dissenters' Academy was built in the town in 1768, and by 1865 the single Anglican church, St Mary's, was outnumbered by non-Church-of-England establishments by seven to one.

[65] The Unitarian "Chapel in the Garden", on the north side of East Street, provides a neutral development resource for an open faith community.

[73] The seventeen Grade II* structures are: Bridport Museum, The Chantry and Daniel Taylor's almshouses (and wall of the Friends' burial place) in South Street;[74][75][76][77] No.

Water Polo matches are held in summer in the outer harbour at West Bay, continuing a tradition dating back to 1898.

Writer Tom Sharpe moved to the town in 1978, and socialist musician Billy Bragg lives at nearby Burton Bradstock.