The buoys were originally built at Carvers Boatyard on East Quay and were placed in Bridgwater Bay on the River Parrett in 1860. Several buoys were placed in the bay which helped cargo ships to navigate the river on their journeys carrying trade to and from Bridgwater town.

In 1907 commercial traffic ceased and the docks ceased operation and the Bridgwater Buoys became a long forgotten memory.

In 1960 two buoys were rescued from the estuary after being stuck in deep silt for many years by Captain Curnew the harbour master of the port and Borough and put on the dockside, the other placed at Combwich on the side of the River Parrett.

In December 1989 the two more buoys broke free from their moorings in Bridgwater bay during a spell of rough weather. Both were found washed up on Steart Island but one was badly damaged.

Councillors were told that the damage cost £8,000 to repair over the last four years alone.   

In early 2001 the buoy was in bad state of repair and the Bridgwater and District Civic Society decided to restore it back to its original state with being carried out by Bridgwater College.

In August 2001 Sedgemoor District Council chairman Jessica Healy unveiled the buoy at a special ceremony to mark the return of the 140 year old buoy, the ceremony was dedicated to Betty Dimes a civic society member.

In 2015 once again the buoy was in a bad state and Patsy Robinson worked tirelessly to get funding to restore the buoy back to its original condition again with the help of Bridgwater College and a number of local people it was returned to the original position after being restored.

It was in late 2017 that the buoy was returned to its place by the Docks and was placed on a specially built plinth which was made from bricks from the Old Workhouse site, once in place a ceremony was held to celebrate all the hard work that was done to bring it back to the docks.

The ceremony included the Mayor Cllr Alec Glassford cutting a ribbon to officially welcome back the Buoy, watched by the invited guests of Patsy Robinson

The ceremony included everyone that had been involved in the restoration of the Buoy, including Patsy Robinson holding the flowers, volunteers of the IWA and the Town Council plus invited guests of the Civic Society.

Later there was another ceremony this time to place a plaque on the Buoy the plaque dedicated to Patsy Robinson for all her hard work in getting the Buoy restored.

This again saw specially invited guests including the Town Council and the Civic Society, the Mayor Cllr Graham Granter and Mayoress Kay Granter unveil the plaque with Patsy.

The reason for restoring this fascinating piece of Bridgwater's maritime heritage is for a tourist attraction, educational feature, and provide a focus for visitors to the Docks.