88-509: Watchet Boat Museum is a small museum in Watchet , Somerset , England. It is housed in the 1862, Victorian , former railway goods shed of Watchet railway station , which is today located on the heritage West Somerset Railway . The exhibits include several types of boats found locally and associated artefacts, photographs and charts, plus nets and other items associated with their use. There are displays of maps, knotwork and boards showing
176-482: A black albatross . "Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung." As they discussed Shelvocke's book, Wordsworth proffered the following developmental critique to Coleridge, which importantly contains a reference to tutelary spirits : "Suppose you represent him as having killed one of these birds on entering the south sea, and
264-442: A collection of exhibits about the natural history of Watchet and the surrounding area. The focus is on nautical and maritime history of the port. Artefacts include those relating to: Archaeology, Coins and Medals, Land Transport, Maritime, Natural Sciences, Science and Technology and Social History. At the rear of the museum building is the old town lock-up for the temporary detention of people, often drunks who were usually released
352-475: A detailed study of the published versions of the poem. Over all, Coleridge's revisions resulted in the poem losing thirty-nine lines and an introductory prose "Argument", and gaining fifty-eight glosses and a Latin epigraph. In general the anthologies included printed lists of errata and, in the case of the particularly lengthy list in Sibylline Leaves , the list was included at the beginning of
440-548: A distinct pale, greenish blue colour, resulting from the coloured alabaster found there. The name "Watchet" or "Watchet Blue" was used in the 16th century to denote this colour. A fragment of a lower jaw from a Phytosaur longirostrine archosaur has been described from early Hettangian strata. Kentsford Bridge is a packhorse bridge over the Washford River. It existed before the Reformation , possibly being
528-512: A fate worse than death as punishment for his killing of the albatross. One by one, all of the crew members die, but the mariner lives on, seeing for seven days and nights the curse in the eyes of the crew's corpses, whose last expressions remain upon their faces: Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one. The souls did from their bodies fly,— They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, Like
616-399: A local acquaintance of Coleridge's, had related a dream about a skeleton ship crewed by spectral sailors. In September 2003, a commemorative statue, by Alan B. Herriot of Penicuik , Scotland, was unveiled at Watchet harbour. In Biographia Literaria , Coleridge wrote: The thought suggested itself (to which of us I do not recollect) that a series of poems might be composed of two sorts. In
704-411: A more authoritative version and Coleridge published somewhat revised versions of the poem in his Poetical Works anthology editions of 1828, 1829, and lastly in 1834—the year of his death. More recently scholars look to the earliest version, even in manuscript, as the most authoritative but for this poem no manuscript is extant . Hence the editors of the edition of Collected Poems published in 1972 used
792-456: A motor lifeboat that could cover the area around Watchet. The boat was launched from the slipway at the western corner of the harbour, but the boat house was at the southern corner near the railway station and the boat was taken along the quay on a carriage. Since closure the boat house has been converted into a library. The civil parish of Watchet is governed by a town council , having previously been Watchet Urban District . Administratively,
880-468: A new east pier and rebuilt the west pier; the work was finished in 1862, and 500 ton vessels could enter the harbour. Passenger services were also provided from Watchet, however these were not financially successful and with the declining output from the Iron ore mines the line closed in 1898. It briefly reopened in the early 20th century. The trackbed of the old West Somerset Mineral Railway now forms
968-749: A path, which can be followed from the harbour at Watchet to Washford station , also on the West Somerset Railway. The Knights Templar Church of England/Methodist Community School in Liddymore Road was built in 1990. It takes its name from the land on which it was built which was owned by the Knights Templar . Middle and an upper schools are available in Williton and Minehead including The West Somerset Community College , which provides education for 1298 students between
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#17327795758781056-448: A plaque to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the lighthouse. The mines and West Somerset Mineral Railway closed in 1898. The West Somerset Railway, extended from Watchet to Minehead in 1874, survived as part of British Rail until 1971. Reopened as a heritage railway, it still operates today. In 1900 and 1903 a series of gales breached the breakwater and East Pier with the loss of several vessels each time and subsequent repairs. After
1144-603: A route to Cleeve Abbey and was repaired in 1613. The bridge is 54 inches (1,400 mm) wide and has a total span of 16 feet (4.9 m). Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was written in 1797 whilst travelling through Watchet and the surrounding area. He lived at Coleridge Cottage in Nether Stowey and while living there he wrote " This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison ", part of " Christabel ", Frost at Midnight and The Rime of
1232-552: A sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity, depending on the mood in different parts of the poem. The poem begins with an old grey-bearded sailor, the Mariner, stopping a guest at a wedding ceremony to tell him a story of a sailing voyage he took long ago. The Wedding-Guest is at first reluctant to listen, as the ceremony is about to begin, but the mariner's glittering eye captivates him. The mariner's tale begins with his ship departing on its journey. Despite initial good fortune,
1320-434: A simple sprit - or jib -headed sail, long rudder and dagger board for fishing use in inland waters. Watchet Watchet is a harbour town, civil parish and electoral ward in the county of Somerset , England, with a population in 2011 of 3,785. It is situated 15 miles (24 km) west of Bridgwater , 15 miles (24 km) north-west of Taunton , and 9 miles (14 km) east of Minehead . The town lies at
1408-421: A site between Watchet and Doniford . Unmanned target aircraft were towed by planes from RAF Weston Zoyland , and later were fired from catapults over the sea. Little of the camp buildings survives, and it is now the site of a holiday park. The port remained open to service the papermills, importing wood pulp and esparto grass from Russia and Scandinavia , using mainly East European registered vessels after
1496-538: A stronger pier. The main export at this time was kelp , made by burning seaweed for use in glass making. In the 19th century trade increased with the export of iron ore from the Brendon Hills mainly to Newport for onward transportation to the Ebbw Vale Steelworks , paper, flour and gypsum. In 1843 the esplanade was built by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont , and in 1855 a new harbour
1584-587: A surface level the poem explores a violation of nature and the resulting psychological effects on the mariner and on all those who hear him. According to Jerome McGann the poem is like a salvation story. The poem's structure is multi-layered text based on Coleridge's interest in higher criticism . "Like the Iliad or Paradise Lost or any great historical product, the Rime is a work of trans-historical rather than so-called universal significance. This verbal distinction
1672-682: Is attested in a number of charters and in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle during the tenth century, in the Old English forms weced , wæced , and wæcet . It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wacet . Twenty-first-century authorities mostly agree that the name comes from the Common Brittonic words that survive in modern Welsh as gwo - ("under-") and coed ("woodland"). Thus the name once meant "under
1760-453: Is continually acted upon; thirdly, that the events having no necessary connection do not produce each other; and lastly, that the imagery is somewhat too laboriously accumulated. Yet the Poem contains many delicate touches of passion, and indeed the passion is every where true to nature, a great number of the stanzas present beautiful images, and are expressed with unusual felicity of language; and
1848-656: Is dedicated to him. At the time of the Domesday Book Watchet was part of the estate held by William de Moyon . The parish of Watchet was in the Williton and Freemanners Hundred in the Middle Ages . T With access to wood from the Quantock Hills , records show that paper making was established by 1652. In the 15th century, a flour mill was established by the Fulford and Hadley families near
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#17327795758781936-548: Is important because it calls attention to a real one. Like The Divine Comedy or any other poem, the Rime is not valued or used always or everywhere or by everyone in the same way or for the same reasons." Whalley (1947) suggests that the Ancient Mariner is an autobiographical portrait of Coleridge himself, comparing the mariner's loneliness with Coleridge's own feelings of loneliness expressed in his letters and journals. In Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson (1990), Camille Paglia writes that
2024-416: Is initially uncertain as to whether or not he is hallucinating: Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed The light-house top I see? Is this the hill? is this the kirk? Is this mine own countree? We drifted o'er the harbour-bar, And I with sobs did pray— O let me be awake, my God! Or let me sleep alway. The rotten remains of the ship sink in a whirlpool, leaving only the mariner behind. A hermit on
2112-550: Is now an intermediate stop on the West Somerset Railway , a largely steam -operated heritage railway that links Bishops Lydeard , near Taunton , with Minehead . The station was first opened on 31 March 1862, when the West Somerset Railway was opened from Norton Junction . The station was built as a terminus, for part of the commercial aim of the WSR was to provide a wider and cheaper distribution route for goods from
2200-414: Is partially expiated. It then starts to rain, and the bodies of the crew, possessed by good spirits, rise again and help steer the ship. In a trance, the mariner hears two spirits discussing his voyage and penance, and learns that the ship is being powered supernaturally: The air is cut away before, And closes from behind. Finally the mariner wakes from his trance and comes in sight of his homeland, but
2288-478: The Caen stone reredos was erected. The church was described by Francis Carolus Eeles ("St Decuman's Church") in 1932. He highlighted a fine geometrical east window with original tracery dating from the end of the 13th century and the perpendicular window tracery in the south isle. The series of wagon roofs with rich carving are above the rood screen in the nave and south aisle . The Wyndham Chapel occupies
2376-766: The First World War , the Cardiff Scrap and Salvage company Ltd. took a lease on part of the harbour, from 1920 to 1923. In autumn 1923, the company scrapped the second class protected cruiser HMS Fox of the Astraea -class of the Royal Navy , which at 320 feet (98 m) is still the largest vessel ever to enter the harbour. Before the Second World War , a gunnery range was established for various army units to practice anti-aircraft gunnery at
2464-687: The First-past-the-post system of election. The current MP is Ian Liddell-Grainger , a member of the Conservatives . Until Brexit in 2020, residents of Watchet formed part of the electorate for the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament . The foreshore at Watchet is rocky, with a high 6 metres (20 ft) tidal range . The cliffs between Watchet and Blue Anchor show
2552-468: The Mendip TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Somerset on 95.5 FM, Heart West on 102.6 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South West on 102.4 FM, and West Somerset Radio, community based radio station that broadcast from the town on 104.4 FM. The town is served by local newspapers, West Somerset Free Press and Somerset County Gazette . Adjacent to the harbour is Watchet station . This
2640-594: The River Severn for onward shipping. Aside from local ships plying trade across the river, from 1564 onwards the port was used for import of salt and wine from France . In 1643 during the English Civil War , a Royalist ship was sent to Watchet to reinforce for the siege of Dunster Castle . Parliamentarian (Roundhead) Captain Popham ordered his troops into the sea with the tide on the ebb, and with
2728-588: The Somerset Levels to carry peat and withies to market. They were built from elm boards or clinker and were pulled along the banks of the drainage ditches on the levels. River boats had a similar construction, but the bottom was curved to allow them to be launched down sloping muddy banks of rivers including the River Parrett , where they were used for salmon fishing. Slightly larger boats, known as Bay or Gore Boats, have also been fitted with
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2816-541: The Wansbrough Paper Mill . With an annual capacity of 180,000 tonnes of product and employing 100 people, it was the UK's largest manufacturer of coreboard , and also produced containerboard , recycled envelope , bag and kraft papers. In December 2015 the paper mill ceased production and closed. Watchet developed as a town thanks to its closeness to the minerals within the Brendon Hills , and its access to
2904-529: The 10th century. Trade using the harbour gradually grew, despite damage during several severe storms, with import and exports of goods including those from Wansbrough Paper Mill until the 19th century when it increased with the export of iron ore , brought from the Brendon Hills via the West Somerset Mineral Railway , mainly to Newport for onward transportation to the Ebbw Vale Steelworks . The West Somerset Railway also served
2992-438: The 1798 version but made their own modernisation of the spelling and they added some passages taken from later editions. The 1817 edition, the one most used today and the first to be published under Coleridge's own name rather than anonymously, added a new Latin epigraph but the major change was the addition of the gloss that has a considerable effect on the way the poem reads. Coleridge's grandson E.H. Coleridge produced
3080-504: The Ancient Mariner was no exception – he produced at least eighteen different versions over the years. He regarded revision as an essential part of creating poetry. The first published version of the poem was in Lyrical Ballads in 1798. The second edition of this anthology in 1800 included a revised text, requested by Coleridge, in which some of the language and many of the archaic spellings were modernised. He also reduced
3168-473: The Ancient Mariner . It is claimed that the sight of harbour, from St. Decuman's Church, was the primary inspiration for Coleridge to start the poem. In September 2003, a commemorative statue, by Alan B Herriot of Penicuik , Scotland, was unveiled at the harbour. Local traditions include Lantern Night, which is held on 16 September and involves children in the town with candle lanterns made from hollowed out root vegetables such as mangelwurzel or swede . It
3256-483: The Ancyent Marinere ) is the longest major poem by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge , written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads . Some modern editions use a revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss . It is often considered a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature . The Rime of the Ancient Mariner recounts
3344-475: The Antarctic. However, the sailors change their minds when the weather becomes warmer and the mist disappears: 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist. They soon find that they made a grave mistake in supporting this crime, as it arouses the wrath of spirits who then pursue the ship "from the land of mist and snow"; the south wind that had initially blown them north now sends
3432-514: The Bible. There were many opinions on why Coleridge inserted the gloss. Charles Lamb , who had deeply admired the original for its attention to "Human Feeling", claimed that the gloss distanced the audience from the narrative, weakening the poem's effects. The entire poem was first published in the collection of Lyrical Ballads . Another version of the poem was published in the 1817 collection entitled Sibylline Leaves (see 1817 in poetry ). On
3520-584: The Bridegroom, Wedding-Guest and Mariner all represent aspects of Coleridge: "The Bridegroom is a masculine persona" that is "integrated with society", and that the Wedding-Guest is an adolescent seeking "sexual fulfilment and collective joy", that must merge with the Bridegroom but is unable to because of the appearance of a spectre -self, a "male heroine" who "luxuriates in passive suffering". Coleridge often made changes to his poems and The Rime of
3608-665: The Church of St Decumen there is also a Methodist church in Watchet. It was built as a Wesleyan chapel in 1871. The Baptist church was built in 1824. Cleeve Abbey , one of the best preserved medieval monasteries in England, lies about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Watchet, in the village of Washford . The Rime of the Ancient Mariner The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of
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3696-460: The Great (AD 871−901) Watchet became an important port, and coins minted here have been found as far away as Copenhagen and Stockholm . The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the early port being plundered by Danes led by Earl Ottir and a 'Hroald' (possibly Ottir's king Ragnall ) in 987 and 997. Watchet is believed to be the place where Saint Decuman was killed around 706 and its parish church
3784-604: The Second World War. Requiring a return load, the result was that Watchet became a leading UK port for the export of car parts, tractors and other industrial goods. However, with the replacement of coal with oil from the mid-1960s, the port traffic began to terminally decline. The harbour was in commercial use until 2000, it has now been converted into a marina for pleasure boats. It is surrounded by renovated quaysides and narrow streets. The commercial esplanade has been refurbished with new shelters, information points, and
3872-472: The aforesaid merchant, because one of the date shells had, it seems, put out the eye of the genie's son. Wordsworth wrote to Joseph Cottle in 1799: From what I can gather it seems that the Ancient Mariner has upon the whole been an injury to the volume, I mean that the old words and the strangeness of it have deterred readers from going on. If the volume should come to a second Edition I would put in its place some little things which would be more likely to suit
3960-409: The ages of 13 and 18. The Anglican St Decuman's church is probably on an ancient pre-Christian site, on a hill top between Watchet and Williton. An earlier church was situated by the sea at Daw's Castle (probably the original site of Watchet) but was abandoned because of sea erosion. When the church was rebuilt in the 12th century it appears that the bones of St Decuman were moved. The chancel of
4048-650: The archaic words. The poem may have been inspired by James Cook 's second voyage of exploration (1772–1775) of the South Seas and the Pacific Ocean; Coleridge's tutor, William Wales , was the astronomer on Cook's flagship and had a strong relationship with Cook. On this second voyage Cook crossed three times into the Antarctic Circle to determine whether the fabled great southern continent Terra Australis existed. Critics have also suggested that
4136-401: The chapel from the chancel. A mural monument exists with kneeling effigies of two of Sir John's sons, Henry and George, as well as other monuments to the later family of Wyndham. The organ was presented to the church in 1933 by W. Wyndham. St Decuman's well is below the church. It is a 19th-century reconstruction of the earlier well on the site which dates from the Middle Ages . In addition to
4224-794: The civil parish falls within the Somerset West and Taunton local government district and the Somerset shire county . Administrative tasks are shared between county, district and town councils. In 2011, the parish had a population of 3,785. Watchet forms part of the Tiverton and Minehead county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of parliament (MP) by
4312-463: The common taste. However, when Lyrical Ballads was reprinted, Wordsworth included it despite Coleridge's objections, writing: The Poem of my Friend has indeed great defects; first, that the principal person has no distinct character, either in his profession of Mariner, or as a human being who having been long under the control of supernatural impressions might be supposed himself to partake of something supernatural; secondly, that he does not act, but
4400-640: The east end of the north aisle and is dedicated to the Wyndham family of nearby Orchard Wyndham House, former lords of the manor . Included is a memorial to Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), who played an important role in the establishment of defence organisation in the West Country against the threat of the Spanish Armada . Next to his monument is one to his parents, and the chest tomb of his grandparents, with monumental brasses , serves to separate
4488-408: The experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on his way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The Wedding-Guest's reaction turns from amusement to impatience to fear to fascination as the mariner's story progresses, as can be seen in the language style; Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create
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#17327795758784576-718: The legends of the Wandering Jew , who was forced to wander the earth until Judgement Day for a terrible crime, found in Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer , M. G. Lewis' The Monk (a 1796 novel Coleridge reviewed), and the legend of the Flying Dutchman . It is argued that the harbour at Watchet in Somerset was the primary inspiration for the poem, although some time before, John Cruikshank,
4664-488: The local harbour was used to import raw materials and export finished goods. Most of the mill was destroyed by fire in 1889, but it was rebuilt, and less than ten years later five paper-making machines were operating. The mill became the largest manufacturer of paper bags in the UK. In 1896, the business became the Wansbrough Paper Company, a limited liability company , and the building became known as
4752-407: The mainland who has spotted the approaching ship comes to meet it in a boat, rowed by a pilot and his boy. When they pull the mariner from the water, they think he is dead, but when he opens his mouth, the pilot shrieks with fright. The hermit prays, and the mariner picks up the oars to row. The pilot's boy laughs, thinking the mariner is the devil, and cries, "The Devil knows how to row". Back on land,
4840-430: The mariner is compelled by "a woful agony" to tell the hermit his story. As penance for shooting the albatross, the mariner, driven by the agony of his guilt, is now forced to wander the earth, telling his story over and over, and teaching a lesson to those he meets: He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all. After finishing his story,
4928-431: The mariner leaves, and the wedding-guest returns home, waking the next morning "a sadder and a wiser man". The poem received mixed reviews from critics, and Coleridge was once told by the publisher that most of the book's sales were to sailors who thought it was a naval songbook. Coleridge made several modifications to the poem over the years. In the second edition of Lyrical Ballads , published in 1800, he replaced many of
5016-573: The mid 1860s. The West Somerset Mineral Railway ran down from the iron mines on the Brendon Hills, and the West Somerset Railway came up from the Bristol and Exeter Railway at Norton Fitzwarren . At the peak in the trade during the late 19th century 40,000 tons of ore were exported annually. In 1862, the cast-iron Watchet Harbour Lighthouse was built by Hennet, Spinks and Else of Bridgwater . In September 2012, Princess Anne unveiled
5104-484: The moment, which constitutes poetic faith. ... With this view I wrote the Ancient Mariner . In Table Talk , Coleridge wrote: Mrs. Barbauld once told me that she admired The Ancient Mariner very much, but that there were two faults in it – it was improbable, and had no moral. As for the probability, I owned that that might admit some question; but as to the want of a moral, I told her that in my own judgement
5192-639: The mouth of the Washford River on Bridgwater Bay , part of the Bristol Channel , and on the edge of Exmoor National Park . The original settlement may have been at the Iron Age fort, Daw's Castle . It then moved to the mouth of the river and a small harbour developed. After the Saxon conquest of the area the town developed, becoming known as Weced or Waeced, and was attacked by Vikings in
5280-412: The mouth of the Washford River . By 1587 the Wyndham estate had established a fulling and grist mill to the south west. By 1652, the mill had started to produce paper. In 1846 business partners James Date, William Peach and John Wansbrough bought the business and introduced mechanised-production using a water wheel -powered pulley system. In the 1860s, the factory was converted to steam power and
5368-438: The next day or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. The Watchet Boat Museum , which is housed in the 1862 Victorian architecture former railway goods shed, displays the unusual local flatner boats and associated artefacts. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed a lifeboat at Watchet in 1875. The station was closed in 1944 by which time the nearby station at Minehead had been equipped with
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#17327795758785456-422: The one, incidents and agents were to be, in part at least, supernatural, and the excellence aimed at was to consist in the interesting of the affections by the dramatic truth of such emotions, as would naturally accompany such situations, supposing them real. And real in this sense they have been to every human being who, from whatever source of delusion, has at any time believed himself under supernatural agency. For
5544-489: The poem had too much; and that the only, or chief fault, if I might say so, was the obtrusion of the moral sentiment so openly on the reader as a principle or cause of action in a work of such pure imagination. It ought to have had no more moral than the Arabian Nights ' tale of the merchant's sitting down to eat dates by the side of a well, and throwing the shells aside, and lo! a genie starts up, and says he must kill
5632-485: The poem may have been inspired by the voyage of Thomas James into the Arctic . According to Wordsworth , the poem was inspired while Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Wordsworth's sister Dorothy were on a walking tour through the Quantock Hills in Somerset . The discussion had turned to a book that Wordsworth was reading, that described a privateering voyage in 1719 during which a melancholy sailor, Simon Hatley , shot
5720-442: The poem was criticized for being obscure and difficult to read. The use of archaic spelling of words was seen as not in keeping with Wordsworth's claims of using common language. Criticism was renewed again in 1815–1816, when Coleridge added marginal notes to the poem that were also written in an archaic style. These notes or glosses , placed next to the text of the poem, ostensibly interpret the verses much like marginal notes found in
5808-501: The present church is unusually wide and may have housed the tomb of St Decuman. The "Translation of Saint Decuman" used to be celebrated. The 15th century, Grade I listed , Church of St Decuman is dedicated to him. The Norman church was rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries when the central tower was demolished and the present one built at the west end. It was restored and reseated by James Piers St Aubyn between 1886 and 1891, with further internal alterations being made in 1896 when
5896-488: The provision of new paving in some areas, as well as railings, lamps, curved benches, planters and new tree plantings. There are several museums in the town, including the Market House Museum , which explores the history of the town and its harbour. The building was constructed in 1820 on the site of the previous market house which had been demolished in 1805. It was converted into a museum in 1979. It houses
5984-506: The sea, on a tapering spur of land bounded by the Washford River to the south. Its ramparts would have formed a semicircle backing on to the sheer cliffs, but only about 300 metres (980 ft) are visible today. A Saxon mint was established here in 1035, probably within the fort. It is a scheduled monument . There is no sign of Roman occupation, but the Anglo-Saxons took Watchet from the native Britons around AD 680. Under Alfred
6072-499: The second class, subjects were to be chosen from ordinary life ... In this idea originated the plan of the Lyrical Ballads ; in which it was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least Romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for
6160-422: The ship into uncharted waters near the equator, where it is becalmed : Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The very deep did rot: Oh Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon
6248-538: The ship is driven south by a storm and eventually reaches the icy waters of the Antarctic . An albatross appears and leads the ship out of the ice jam where it is stuck, but even as the albatross is fed and praised by the ship's crew, the mariner shoots the bird: [...] With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross . The crew is angry with the mariner, believing the albatross brought the south wind that led them out of
6336-459: The ship unable to move, attacked the ship with fire from their carbines . Taken by surprise and under heavy attack, the Royalist commander surrendered the ship, resulting in a ship technically at sea being captured by troops on horseback. The primitive jetty was damaged in a storm of 1659, so that in 1708 leading local wool merchant Sir William Wyndham built a new harbour costing £1,000, with
6424-403: The slimy sea. The sailors change their minds again and blame the mariner for the torment of their thirst. In anger, the crew forces the mariner to wear the dead albatross about his neck, perhaps to illustrate the burden he must suffer from killing it, or perhaps as a sign of regret: Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck
6512-667: The then major port of Watchet. The line was extended westwards by the Minehead Railway Company on 16 July 1874, with an industrial railway siding provided at the same time into the Wansbrough Paper Mill . The GWR undertook many projects to increase the capacity of the line in the 1930s. Nationalisation in 1948 saw the GWR become the Western Region of British Railways . Freight traffic was withdrawn on 6 July 1964, and passenger trains on 4 January 1971. The station
6600-431: The title to The Ancient Mariner but for later versions the longer title was restored. The 1802 and 1805 editions of Lyrical Ballads had minor textual changes. In 1817 Coleridge's Sibylline Leaves anthology included a new version with an extensive marginal gloss , written by the poet. The last version he produced was in 1834. Traditionally literary critics regarded each revision of a text by an author as producing
6688-446: The town and port bringing goods and people from the Bristol and Exeter Railway . The iron ore trade reduced, finally ceasing in the early 20th century. The port continued a smaller commercial trade until 2000 when it was converted into a marina . In 2016, Watchet joined the rest of West Somerset in receiving 'Opportunity Area' status. The church is dedicated to Saint Decuman who is thought to have died here around 706. An early church
6776-545: The tutelary spirits of these regions take upon them to avenge the crime." By the time the trio finished their walk, the poem had taken shape. Bernard Martin argues in The Ancient Mariner and the Authentic Narrative that Coleridge was also influenced by the life of Anglican clergyman John Newton , who had a near-death experience aboard a slave ship . The poem may also have been inspired by
6864-518: The various uses of withy . There is also an example of a mudhorse which is a wooden sledge is propelled across the mudflats to collect fish from nets. The museum specialises in the shallow draft Flatner , a form of vessel once prevalent in Bridgwater Bay and adjacent coastal areas. Flatners are small double-ended boats with no keel. Withy Boats and Turf Boats, which were between 16 feet (4.9 m) and 20 feet (6.1 m) long, were used on
6952-405: The versification, though the metre is itself unfit for long poems, is harmonious and artfully varied, exhibiting the utmost powers of that metre, and every variety of which it is capable. It therefore appeared to me that these several merits (the first of which, namely that of the passion, is of the highest kind) gave to the Poem a value which is not often possessed by better Poems. Upon its release,
7040-604: The volume. Such changes were often editorial rather than merely correcting errors. Coleridge also made handwritten changes in printed volumes of his work, particularly when he presented them as gifts to friends. In addition to being referred to in several other notable works, due to the popularity of the poem, the phrase "albatross around one's neck" has become an English-language idiom referring to "a heavy burden of guilt that becomes an obstacle to success". The phrase "Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink" has appeared widely in popular culture, but usually given in
7128-419: The whizz of my cross-bow! Eventually, this stage of the mariner's curse is lifted after he begins to appreciate the many sea creatures swimming in the water. Despite his cursing them as "slimy things" earlier in the poem, he suddenly sees their true beauty and blesses them ("A spring of love gush'd from my heart, And I bless'd them unaware"). As he manages to pray, the albatross falls from his neck and his guilt
7216-430: The wood". Daw's Castle ( Dart's Castle or Dane's Castle ) is an Iron Age sea cliff hill fort about 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to the west of the town. It was built and fortified, on the site of an earlier settlement, as a burh by Alfred the Great , as part of his defences against Viking raids from the Bristol Channel around 878 AD . It is situated on an east–west cliff about 80 metres (260 ft) above
7304-442: Was built near Daw's Castle and a new church was erected in the 15th century. It has several tombs and monuments to Sir John Wyndham and his family who were the lords of the manor. Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner , which was written in the area, is commemorated by a statue on the harbourside. East Quay Watchet is a purpose-built art gallery and arts centre that opened in 2021. The name of Watchet
7392-512: Was commissioned to cope with increased iron ore trade. The existing harbour was damaged and several vessels wrecked by the Royal Charter Storm on 26 October 1859. A new east pier and wharf was completed in 1861−62 by James Abernethy . This allowed shipping movement to reach a peak, with over 1,100 ship movements per annum. Harbour trade was aided by the coming of the railway, with two independent railways terminating at Watchet from
7480-413: Was hung. After a "weary time", the ship encounters a ghostly hulk. On board are Death (a skeleton) and the "Night-mare Life-in-Death", a deathly pale woman, who are playing dice for the souls of the crew. With a roll of the dice, Death wins the lives of the crew members and Life-in-Death the life of the mariner, a prize she considers more valuable. Her name is a clue to the mariner's fate: he will endure
7568-495: Was ready for traffic from Watchet to Roadwater by April 1857, Although the outward terminal of the line was to be the quay at Watchet, the pier had been practically unusable for some considerable time, and boats were beached and loaded direct from carts brought on to the foreshore. After considerable public pressure, the Watchet Harbour Act was passed in 1857, placing it under the control of Commissioners; they built
7656-467: Was reopened by the new West Somerset Railway on 28 August 1976. The harbour was also linked, with a separate station , to the independent West Somerset Mineral Railway , that ran to iron ore mines in the Brendon Hills south west of the town. From Watchet the ore was carried across the Bristol Channel by ship to Newport and thence to Ebbw Vale for smelting to extract the iron. The line
7744-539: Was the last remaining reminder of the Watchet Fair (also known as St Decuman's Fair). Another tradition is Queen Caturn's Day on the last Saturday of November. Watchet was famous for its blue dye and Queen Caturn was so impressed she bestowed the town's folk with cider and cakes as a reward for this. The tradition is carried on with costumes and celebrations. Local news and television programmes are BBC West and ITV West Country . Television signals are received from
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