YOU can blame Oliver Cromwell for a lot of things - The massacre at Drogheda, the crushing of  the Levellers, or the banning of Christmas - but I blame him most for demolishing Bridgwater Castle in 1645.

Now I'm not proposing rebuilding it (although they did rebuild Cabot's transatlantic ship the Matthew during the 1980s as a job creation scheme), but I am lamenting what a difference it might have made were it still here today for tourism, history chic and general heritage ambience.

Have a walk around the area today and imagine it - King Square almost precisely marks the Norman Keep built in 1202. 

Then the castle walls rose up to 20 feet in four lines of a mighty square around that surrounded by a 30 foot tidal moat.

Now that's easy to spot as you can start with 'castle moat'.

The west side ran from that correctly named street past the main castle entrance (between Natwest and Lloyds), and that's why the land rises and bends as you enter the old castle via York buildings.

Imagine a gatehouse and portcullis there then turn along (by Sports Direct) to the Fountain inn. 

Then, the magnificent frontage of the castle would stretch from the Fountain to Homecastle House before turning back along Chandos Street which would form its North facing wall. 

Have a look at some pictures of Conwy or Caernarvon today, that could be pre-Cromwell Bridgwater.

But don't fret Medieval masonry buffs! You can still see bits of castle.

Look in at the watergate on West Quay, check out the ruins on Queen Street (at the back of boots) or lift one of the four manhole covers at the bottom of Castle Street and see actual castle wall.

Or, to be honest, just pop into Blake Museum and see their famous sketch of Medieval Bridgwater complete with actual castle itself.