- Pretty County Market Town
- Steeped in history
- Great range of sporting attractions
Taunton is Somerset’s County town, rich in history and home to both Somerset County Cricket Club and Taunton Race course. As well as a fabulous range of shops and places to eat and drink, the town is rich in culture and a centre for the arts.
The town is also a great location from which to explore the region, its history and legends. This is the land of King Alfred, King Arthur, and Lorna Doone’s Exmoor. There are the majestic gardens of Hestercombe and Stourhead to explore, and there are a range of superb National Trust properties and treasures to visit in the local area.
Food and Drink
Taunton has a good range of restaurants and pubs to try. Among these are the The Castle Restaurant and Brazz. The Castle has a worldwide reputation and is ranked among the top 40 best places to eat in Britain by The Good Food Guide; Tatler and Hardens Restaurant Guides also mention it in dispatches. A slightly cheaper alternative, but nevertheless popular is the trend-setting brasserie, BRAZZ, which is the Castle’s take on a modern bar-cafe.
Each Thursday, between 9am and 3pm the Vale of Taunton farmers market takes place. Here you can find just-picked seasonal fruit and vegetables, fresh fish, free-range and organic meat and eggs, a wide selection of regional cheeses, chutneys and preserves, hand-made bread and cakes and many more local specialities.
Family Attractions
There are a wide variety of great local attractions to visit in and around Taunton.
Just a few miles north of the town is the fabulous West Somerset Railway. This is Britain’s longest standard gauge steam railway and runs for twenty miles from Bishops Lydeard – which is four miles from Taunton - to Minehead.
For the first half of its journey the Railway passes through the Quantock Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and for the second part the trains follow the coastline between Exmoor and the Bristol Channel. Services run for most of the year, on selected dates in January, February, March, April, May, October, November and December and daily in the peak part of the holiday season. A particular treat is the Santa Express and the non-stop steam train service to Dunster for the annual Dunster by Candlelight festival.
Just to the North of Taunton is the Award Winning Fun Farm, which is situated just off the A3259. This is a great place to go with younger children; here they can help feed the animals, collect eggs and even handle reptiles. The Barrel Train ride is a firm favourite as is the great indoor soft play area. For the more adventurous the Fun Farm has a range of quad bikes, which can be taken around the thrilling children’s course.
Shopping
Taunton is the retail capital of the county, hosting a great range of high street names and specialist
independent retailers. There are over 40 shops, most of which are in covered malls, offering a choice of high street fashion and boutique clothes shopping. There are also some lovely food shops, delicatessens and bakers where you can try locally produced goods and specialties, including a fabulous range of ciders.
History and Heritage
Taunton began as a Saxon village called Tone Tun, stemming from the Saxon word tun for farm or estate and the Celtic word Tone meaning roaring river. By the 10th century Taunton had grown from a village into a small town gaining its charter in AD 904, given to the town by King Edward the Elder.
At this point Taunton became a fortified settlement called a burh, and by the 10th century the town had a mint and a market, which was held on The Parade. From the 13th century Taunton became famous for its wool industry and by the 15th century wool from the town was being exported to France through Lyme Regis. By the late 16th century it was being exported as far away as Africa.
By the mid-13th century Taunton had two fairs that were held only once a year for a period of several days attracting buyers and sellers from all over Southwest England.
In 1642 civil war broke out between king and parliament. The town sided with parliament and between 1643 and 1646 the town was captured and recaptured by the royalist army and parliamentary troops successively. In 1660, when Charles II became king, he took away the town’s charter, restoring it again in 1677. Charles II also ordered the destruction of Taunton Castle to prevent it being used as a rebel base in the future.
In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion against King James II. The people of Taunton welcomed the Duke and young women presented him with banners, declaring him king on The Parade. However, the Duke was defeated at the battle of Sedgemoor. Revenge was taken on the people of the town by George ‘hanging judge’ Jeffreys who held a court in Taunton Castle. During the Bloody Assizes he tried 514 people, of which 144 were sentenced to death and another 284 people were transported to the West Indies.
Throughout the 18th century the town thrived and during this period the castle was restored. Come the 19th Century the town started to developed it modern amenities. By 1821 Taunton had gas street lighting; after 1858 it had piped water and in the 1870s sewers were built. In the late 19th century public parks were laid out and again the town expanded rapidly. Corporation Street was laid out in 1894 and Somerset County Cricket Club was founded in 1875.
Beaches
To the North of Taunton, Minehead offers great traditional seaside fun. This is an attractive, flower filled resort with a wide, smart new promenade and lovely large beach. The colourful seafront is filled with family attractions and amusements, and the town makes a marvellous base for exploring the glorious Exmoor countryside.
Further up the coast lies Burnham-on-Sea, Berrow and Brean Sands. Here there are many miles of sandy beach, outdoor and indoor amusements and the thrills of one of the South West's biggest leisure parks.
Events and Entertainment
In early August, Taunton stages what is widely regarded as the best flower show in the West, featuring a spectacular floral marquee with competition classes, and entertainment for the whole family.
In late October, Taunton hosts a great carnival procession of illuminated 'floats', which are part of an ancient tradition that stretches back as far as the 1600s when many parts of Somerset commemorated the Gunpowder Plot. Grand fireworks displays and street entertainment adds to the sense of fiesta and fun. Some of these floats can be huge, over 50 feet long and covered in hundreds of light bulbs.
The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre offers a variety of cultural events for all ages to enjoy ranging from comedy shows, music sessions and theatre, through to exhibitions, workshops and classes. The centre consists of the 350 seat Main House, The Brewhouse Gallery and Link visual art exhibition spaces, The Studio, which is an adaptable space for film and small scale performance, the Cultivate Hub, which is a creative making space, and the Café Bar. Together this provides a centre for local artists and ‘creatives’ to meet and engage with the community through their work, workshops, mentoring and participatory events.
Activities
Why not try a day out enjoying Visit Somerset’s Scrumptious Somerset route, which takes in Taunton Farmers Market, Muchelney Pottery Gallery and Shop, Muchelney Abbey, Langport and River Parrett Visitor Centre, Burrow Hill Cider as well as the Brown and Forest Traditional Smokery at Hambridge.
For a more relaxing day out Hestercombe Gardens is well worth a visit. Here you’ll find a unique collection of three gardens spanning three centuries of garden history and design. All have undergone acclaimed restoration works and today provide important examples of gardens in contrasting styles that continue to grow and develop. As well as garden walks Hestercombe also has a great little Children's Playground offering a safe haven for children aged up to 7. There’s even a Bat Roost onsite with a hi-tech viewing room, which is well worth a look.
For a real treat a day at the races is hard to beat. Taunton’s Racecourse is one of the most beautifully located National Hunt racecourses in the country. It has outstanding views across to the wooded slopes of the Blackdown Hills, and is only a few minutes drive from the M5 and the centre of Taunton.
If the sound of leather on willow sends a shiver down your spine a day out at Somerset County Cricket Club is hard to beat. Whether you’re supporting the Somerset Sabres, watching a One Day International or a Twenty/Twenty grudge match, a day out at the County Ground in the centre of Taunton is great fun. While you’re there, a visit to the Somerset Cricket Museum is well worth a try housing cricketing memorabilia within a beautifully renovated 16th Century Priory Barn.
Travel
Taunton is situated just off the M5. Regular trains and busses run from the town into the national public transport network, and Bristol International Airport is less than 36 miles away.