Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the Bishops of Winchester. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. For the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, Perkin Warbeck brought an army of 6,000; most surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497. On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England here in a rebellion, defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall. The Grand Western Canal reached Taunton in 1839 and the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1842. Today it hosts Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset County Cricket Club, is the base of 40 Commando, Royal Marines, and is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office on Admiralty Way. The popular Taunton flower show has been held in Vivary Park since 1866, and on 13 March 2022, St Mary Magdalene parish church was elevated to the status of Taunton Minster.
Taunton Deane was a local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton.
Chard is a town and a civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It lies on the A30 road near the Devon and Dorset borders, 15 miles (24 km) south west of Yeovil. The parish has a population of approximately 13,000 and, at an elevation of 121 metres (397 ft), Chard is the southernmost and one of the highest towns in Somerset. Administratively Chard forms part of the district of South Somerset.
Wellington is a market town in rural Somerset, a county in the west of England, situated 7 miles (11 km) south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the town. The town has a population of 14,549, which includes the residents of the parish of Wellington Without, and the villages of Tone and Tonedale.
Bishop's Hull is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated in the western suburbs of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. It includes the areas of Rumwell, Rumwell Park, Roughmoor and Longaller and is close to the River Tone. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Netherclay, has a population of 2,975 in total.
Bishops Lydeard is a village and civil parish located in Somerset, England, 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Taunton in the district of Somerset West and Taunton. The civil parish encompasses the hamlets of East Lydeard, Terhill, and East Bagborough, and had a population of 2,839 persons as recorded in the 2011 census; this figure, however, includes the village of Cotford St Luke.
Kingston St Mary is a village and parish in Somerset, England, situated at the southern end of the Quantock Hills 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 921.
Richard Huish College is a further education and sixth-form college in Taunton, Somerset, England. Located on a single site in South Road, about a mile from the centre of Taunton, it offers A-level courses, apprenticeships and vocational courses.
King's College is an independent co-educational secondary day and boarding school in Taunton, Somerset, England. A member school of the Woodard Corporation, it has approximately 450 pupils aged 13 to 18, including about 300 boarders. Its affiliated prep school is King's Hall School. The head of the school is currently Michael Sloan, who started his first academic year in the winter of 2022.
Taunton School is a co-educational independent school in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18.
The Municipal Buildings are historic buildings in Corporation Street, Taunton, Somerset, England. The buildings, which were the home of Taunton Grammar School before becoming the headquarters of Taunton Borough Council, are Grade II* listed.
Bridgwater and Taunton College is a further education college based in the heart of Somerset, England, with main centres in Bridgwater, Taunton and Cannington. It educates approximately 3000 students between the ages of 16–18 in academic and vocational programmes in addition to several thousand part-time or mature students. The college was founded in 1973, although the history of its predecessor institutions dates to 1891.
Taunton was a rural district in Somerset, England, from 1894 to 1974.
The Taunton Tramway was an electric street tramway in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. It operated a fleet of six narrow gauge tramcars on a single route of 1.66 miles (2.67 km) between 1901 and 1921 when the tramway closed due to a dispute over the cost of electricity.
The Hundred of Taunton Deane was one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ancient county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the frankpledge system. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.
Matthew Jack Leach is an English professional cricketer who plays internationally for the England Test cricket team. In domestic cricket, he represents Somerset. Leach made his Test debut in 2018. He plays as a left-arm orthodox spin bowler.
The Church of St George is a Roman Catholic church in Taunton, Somerset, which dates from the mid-19th century. It was the second Catholic church to be built in Taunton after the Reformation, replacing the much smaller St George's Chapel. The main church building is designated by Historic England as a Grade II* listed building, while the rectory is Grade II listed.
Taunton bus station was situated on Tower Street, Taunton, Somerset, England. It was opened by the Western National Omnibus Company in 1953 and closed in 2020, by which time it was operated by The Buses of Somerset. In 2015 the Transport Trust awarded the station a Red Wheel plaque for its historic value.
The 2022 Somerset Council election took place on 5 May 2022. It was the inaugural election of the new unitary authority, Somerset Council, which will replace Somerset County Council on 1 April 2023. All 110 councillors were elected, representing the same divisions as the old county council, but with twice as many councillors representing each. The councillors elected will sit as members of the existing county council until its replacement by the new authority, at which time the same councillors will become members of Somerset Council.
