been a borough as early as 1157 or 1158 but by 1225 it is officially recorded as such. The economy of the medieval town was based on textiles and pottery, and it had both a weekly market and a yearly fair after 1304.

During the "Bloody Assizes" in the autumn of 1685, in the aftermath of Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion, men from Nether Stowey who were caught up in the rebellion are said to have