[7] The two major manors which controlled the town gained considerable revenues from the 11th century onwards from the imposed Lords water tolls.

[8] Bailiffs were appointed to collect appropriate taxes, tolls and berthing fees, and were also able to rent ropes and boarding planks to visiting vessels.

[8] However, due to the high tidal flow, merchants were able to avoid taxes by landing goods in the river, whereby a vessel would be purposefully beached downstream close to Combwich and manually offloaded at low tide.

[9][10] This allowed locally collected taxes via the established custom house to be invested back into port development, with substantial stone quays built from 1424 onwards, on both sides of the river and located both up and downstream of the Town Bridge.

[8] This expanded further in the 16th century, with most going to: Bilbao, San Sebastián, Fuenterrabia and Andalusia in Spain; Bayonne and Bordeaux in France; and half to the Irish ports of Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kinsale, Limerick, Rosses Point and Sligo, Wexford, Waterford and Youghal.

[8] By the 1590s imports had been erratic and depressed, with most of the ports trade going to (wool; cloth; agricultural products; food (cheddar cheese); cider), and from sister regional ports of: Bristol (glass); Cardiff (coal); Carmarthen (wood, metheglin); Dartmouth; Dorchester; Exmouth; Lydney (coal, salt); Melcombe Regis and Tenby.

[8] However, after this period export licenses were issued again in 1600s for trade to Ireland, France (salt and lime from La Rochelle), Spain, and Portugal, which doubled the traffic tonnage.

[8] Return cargoes varied greatly, but were mostly made up of coal, culm, local food and wine, and a large trade in illegally imported spirit-based alcohol.

[8] Each were in constant demand to the Corporation of Bridgwater for better port facilities, who had commissioned a number of surveys to construct a floating harbour.

to construct a railway which would pass through Bridgwater in 1836, to protect its trade the canal company sought their own act of Parliament[which?]

[22] The canal, which had by this time passed from the B&ER into the control of the Great Western Railway, had fallen into disrepair due to lack of trade by the beginning of World War I.

[23] Control of the docks and canal passed into public ownership with the Transport Act 1947, both consolidated initially under British Railways.

The Inland Waterways Association started to take an active interest in the restoration of the canal from 1952, but this was resisted by the British Transport Commission, who padlocked the lock gates to prevent them being used.

[25] By the mid-1950s, the total Port of Bridgwater was importing some 80,050 to 106,800 tonnes (78,790 to 105,110 long tons) of cargo; mainly sand and coal by tonnage, followed by timber and flour.

[27] Although today all berths and wharfs are owned by Sedgemoor District Council, commercially they are operated by private owners via a leasing arrangement.

[30] A Customs House was sited on West Quay, with some of the surviving buildings having Dutch architecture influence, showing how far regular trade routes led from the town.

F J Carver and Son owned a small dry dock on East Quay and constructed the last ship to be built in the town — the Irene.

[35] From 1844 the docks had a Steam powered, cable-towed puddled iron Drag-Dredger, Bertha, similar to the one Brunel had designed for Bristol Harbour.

[34] The docks opened on 25 March 1841,[36] with volumes resultantly reaching a peak between 1880 and 1885; with an average of 3,600 ships per year entering the port.

[38] In the short term, the opening of the docks increased the profitability of the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal, which carried 81,650 tonnes (80,360 long tons) of cargo in 1840.

[39] This peaked in 1847 at 88,000 tonnes (87,000 long tons) of cargo; however, by the mid-1850s the canal was bankrupt due to competition from both the Bristol and Exeter (B&ER) and Somerset Central Railways.

The former B&ER railway bridge became macadam-covered, linking the A39 road more directly over the A38 and southwards towards Minehead, thereby avoiding passing through the town centre.

Today the entire docks facility, including: the tidal basin; locks; quaysides; bridges and fittings; and the 1850s constructed warehouse, now converted into apartments;[41] are all listed buildings.

Dunball wharf was built in 1844 by Bridgwater coal merchants,[48] and was formerly linked to the Bristol and Exeter Railway by a rail track which crossed the A38.

AG Watts Shipping lease the second berth handling agricultural imports/exports, building materials and the occasional passenger vessel, most often the PS Waverley and MV Balmoral on their annual summer visit.

Short goods trains still departed from Bridgwater railway station to service the timber merchants and engineering yards until the 1970s, when the tracks across the A38 were also lifted.

Pilotage is important because of the constant changes in the navigable channel resulting from the large tidal range, which can exceed 39 feet (11.9 m) on spring tides.

[57] The roll-on roll-off berth at Combwich, leased to and operated by Hinkley Point, is used occasionally for the transfer of heavy goods for the two existing nuclear power stations.

With the possible future construction of the two Hinkley Point C nuclear power stations by EDF Energy, it is proposed that Combwich wharf be employed to transfer heavy goods to the sites.