The name Portishead derives from the "port at the head of the river". It has been called 'Portshead' and 'Portschute' at times in its history and Portesheve in the
Domesday Book, and was locally known as Posset. The town's recorded history dates back to
Roman times, Other sites that have been identified include a site that was successively occupied by the Romans,
Britons and
Danes. There is some evidence that it may have been the western end of the
Wansdyke, an
early medieval or possibly
Roman boundary with a series of defensive linear
earthworks extending to the
Savernake Forest near
Marlborough in
Wiltshire. After the
Norman conquest the manor was held by the
Bishop of Coutances and later reverted to the Crown, after which
William II gave it to a merchant from Bristol known as Harding and then to his son
Robert Fitzharding, who became Lord of
Berkeley. The Berkeley family held it for generations until it passed by marriage to the Cokes of
Holkham in
Norfolk. In the 14th century it belonged to Everard le Frenshe. In 1621 the Bristol Corporation purchased large portions of land in Portishead and revived the Manor Court. The rights of the corporation over the manor were disputed, but they held it until 1836, when they sold it for £8,050. The town was built at the mouth of a small tributary of the
Severn Estuary near the mouth of the
River Avon. The old pill or
jetty provided protection for craft against the
Bristol Channel's large tidal range, Guns were also placed at Battery Point during
World War II. to provide accommodation and catering for travellers on the steamers from Bristol,
Wales and
Ireland.
Portishead power stations in 1989 The
Portishead power stations were coal-fed
power stations built next to the dock. Construction work started on Portishead "A" power station in 1926. It began generating electricity in 1929 for the
Bristol Corporation's Electricity Department. In 1937 its original six short
chimney stacks were replaced by a high stack. In 2009 a report by the Association of Train Operating Companies stated that the Portishead branch was a special case for future consideration for reopening due to the large projected increase in population and congestion in the area. Portishead also had a second, short-lived, railway line: the
Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway. It ran between
Weston-super-Mare and
Clevedon as a standard railway line, and between Clevedon and Portishead as a
light railway. The Clevedon to Portishead extension opened on 7 August 1907. The line closed on 19 May 1940 and was then dismantled by the GWR.
Albright and Wilson In 1951,
Albright and Wilson built a chemical works on the opposite side of the dock from the power stations. The chemical works produced white
phosphorus from
phosphate rock imported, through the docks, into the UK. Phosphate rock was stored in
concrete silos on the dockside until it was required. Electricity provided by the local power stations was used to run six 7.5
megawatt electric arc furnaces (45 MW total) that reduced the phosphate rock. The phosphorus was then moved in sealed railway tanks to
Oldbury and to
Kirkby. After the closure of the factory the decontamination included the removal of yellow (spontaneously combustible) and red allotropes of phosphorus. The site is now home to Portishead volunteer coastguard.
Closure of the dock and associated facilities The onset of new generating capacity at
Pembroke (oil-fired) and
Didcot (coal-fired) in the mid-1970s brought about the closure of the older, less efficient "A" Station. One generator (500 MW) of four at each of the new power stations had almost the same output of both Portishead Stations combined ("A" Station 200 MW, "B" Station 360 MW). The newer of the two power stations ("B" Station) was converted to burn
oil when the Somerset coalfields closed.
Modern marina development Much of the growth of Portishead's population can be attributed to the development of the former docks. The former deep-water dock, used to supply coal and goods to the power stations, has been fully redeveloped into a modern
marina with 250 pontoon berths. The areas on each side of the marina, formerly occupied by the two power stations and chemical plant, have been redeveloped to provide a wide range of housing, from town houses to social housing to exclusive flats. Development has also completed on the
Portbury Ashlands to the east of the harbour (so-called because they were the dumping ground for power station waste) extending the area of the town further towards Portbury. Next to the Ashlands development lies
Portbury Ashlands Nature Reserve. This waterfront development is known as
Port Marine. The area has varied styles of houses and apartments, including an area built in the style of a fishing village, which is modelled on the
Cornish seaside town of
Polperro with narrow streets and multi-coloured properties. New waterside bars and restaurants, including
Hall & Woodhouse, Aqua, Bottelinos,
Costa Coffee have opened around the marina as well as a nearby
Wetherspoons. At the top of the marina sits a new
RNLI lifeboat station, opened in 2015 and run by around 40 local volunteer crew. An
RNLI shop, open daily, is attached to the lifeboat station.
Portishead Radio Portishead was previously the telephone control centre used by
British Telecom (BT) for non-direct dialled calls to maritime vessels, a service known as "Portishead Radio". This has now been largely replaced by
INMARSAT, which permits directly dialled calls made from any BT landline in the UK. The radio station had separate transmitting and receiving stations. They were constructed by the
Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company and operated by the
General Post Office (GPO). By 1936, the station had a staff of 60 radio officers who handled over 3 million words of radio traffic per year. The Highbridge station has been demolished.
Sedgemoor District Council adopted a local development plan in September 2004 that included the site of the receiving station for future housing development. Planning permission was granted in October 2007 for a development of 190 houses and flats on the site and shortly afterwards the old radio station buildings were demolished. ==Governance==