Dunball is a small
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
west of the village of
Puriton and close to the town of
Bridgwater, Somerset, England.
Just north of Dunball is Down End which is the site of
Down End Castle a
motte-and-bailey castle, which has been designated as a
Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Located on the
A38, adjacent to Junction 23 of the
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...
, it hosts a
wharf
A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...
on the
River Parrett, created in 1844 by Bridgwater
coal merchant
A coal merchant is the term used in the UK and other countries for a trader who sells coal and often delivers it to households. Coal merchants were once a major class of local business, but have declined in importance in many parts of the developed ...
s,
which is the only part of the Port of Bridgwater still in commercial use today. Dunball also has a small industrial estate, built on the site of the
Royal Ordnance Factory's hostel blocks; and a hotel.
The wharf was formerly linked to the
Bristol and Exeter Railway by a rail track which crossed the A38, on the right hand side of the hotel. The link was built in 1876 by coal merchants, and was originally operated as a horse-drawn tramway. It was removed during the
Beeching Axe and Dunball also lost its
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
on 5 October 1964, which had opened in 1873. The wharf was used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to bring Welsh coal to the nearby Royal Ordnance Factory,
ROF Bridgwater. The wharf is now used for landing stone products, mainly marine sand and gravels dredged in the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...
.
The
King's Sedgemoor Drain drains into the
River Parrett at Dunball, adjacent to the wharf, via a
clyse. The clyse has been moved from its original location and it now obstructs the entrance to a small harbour adjacent to the wharf. During the
Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels high volume pumps from the Netherlands were installed at Dunball.
River silt was dredged from the river in this locality in order to make
Bath bricks, an early type of cleaning agent with a mild scouring action.
Port of Bridgwater
Under an 1845
act of parliament the Port of Bridgwater extends from
Brean Down to
Hinkley Point in
Bridgwater Bay, and parts of the rivers
Parrett (to Bridgwater),
River Brue and
River Axe. Although no ships now dock in the town of
Bridgwater; in 2001 103,613 (metric)
tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...
s of cargo were handled within the area of the Port Authority (compared to more than 200,000
tons (approximately equivalent to metric tonnes) in 1878), most of which were stone products through the wharf at Dunball.
References
External links
{{Commons category, Dunball
Pylon of the Month @ Dunball
Ports and harbours of Somerset
Villages in Sedgemoor