Bridgwater Borough Police was a police force responsible for policing the borough of

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1836 to 1940. The force was formed as a result of the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...

, Bridgwater being one of the 178 boroughs originally named in the Act. A government return from 1852 shows that the police force at that time had 5 police officers at a cost to the borough of £245 and 18 shillings for the previous year. Throughout its 104 year history its establishment was never more than 20 officers. In 1940 the force was abolished and voluntarily became part of

Somerset Constabulary Somerset Constabulary was the police force responsible for policing the county of Somerset, England, between 1856 and 1967. It was formed as a result of the County and Borough Police Act 1856 The County and Borough Police Act 1856 or the Police A ...

.{{Cite book, title=Police Reference:England and Wales, last=Clark, first=Peter, publisher=, year=2015, isbn=978-0-9858978-0-2, location=, pages=229 Today the area is policed by

Avon and Somerset Constabulary Avon and Somerset Police is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement in the county of Somerset and in four districts that used to be in the defunct county of Avon: Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and ...

References

Defunct police forces of England History of Somerset