More information : Watchet was one of the Burhs of the Burghal Hidage,
with 513 hides, and there was a Mint there from the time of
Aethelred II to Stephen. The site and character of the Burh are
uncertain: Biddle calls it a new burghal town (as distinct from
fort) `on a promontory site' (which suggests either Daw's
Castle (ST 04 SE 1) or the St Decumans area (ST 068428), and
Grinsell supposes that it was either beneath the present town,
or at Daw's Castle, or at another earthwork near it. (1-3)
Additional Bibliography. (4-5)
Excavation at Daw's Castle (ST04SE1) have confirmed it as being the site of the burh. It was probably constructed in Alfred's reign and rebuilt in the reign of Athelred II. (6)
Weced (Watchet) is first recorded as a burh in the Burghal Hideage, and excavations since 1965 have confirmed the location of the burh at Dawe's Castle. (7) |