This plaque was placed on Cobblestones pub, and remembers the East Gate and the medieval hospital of St John.
The Eastgate was located in Eastover, roughly in front of the Cobblestones Inn. This led along Monmouth Street and Bath Road (Bristol Road is relatively new, built after the river was straightened in the eighteenth century) towards Sydenham manor, the deserted medieval settlement of Horsey (meaning ‘the pasture for horses’) to the Polden Hills and the Roman Road. Although the ‘-den’ part refers to hills, the exact meaning of Polden is so old it has long been forgotten. St. John Street in Bridgwater is a nineteenth century construction, built to connect the town to the new Railway, which was extended to Bridgwater in 1841. Before then the way to Westonzoyland had to be made along the river and Salmon Parade. The gate was supposedly demolished in the late eighteenth century after a carriage from a travelling circus containing an elephant had got wedged in the arch which had to be dismantled.
The Medieval Hospital of St John was a place for the infirm, as well as a place of hospitality for travellers. It straddled the East Gate, meaning travellers could gain admittance and shelter after dark and the town gates had been shut and locked for the night. Read more about it here. It was one of the richest institutions in the town, being well-endowed by the founder, William Briwere, who had founded the town and castle. This wealth caused resentment, however, and it was attacked during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1371. The hospital of St John was suppressed by Henry VIII at the reformation, and the buildings eventually demolished.