31 Facts About Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570.

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 was important in Anglo-Saxon times as a burh with a mint.

Some time before Domesday, Taunton became a borough with privileges and a population of some 1,500, including 64 burgesses governed by a portreeve appointed by the bishops.

In 1451, during the Wars of the Roses, Taunton saw a skirmish between the Earl of Devon, and Baron Bonville.

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In 1839 the Grand Western Canal reached Taunton, aiding southward trade, which was enhanced by the arrival of the railway in 1842.

Taunton was rated "strategically important" in the government's Regional Spatial Strategy, allowing Somerset County Council to receive funding for large-scale regeneration projects.

Taunton was the main settlement and centre of the local government district of Taunton Deane.

Taunton Deane merged with West Somerset to form Somerset West and Taunton in 2019.

Taunton Deane is a county constituency of the House of Commons.

Taunton is 38 miles south-west of Bristol, 28 miles north-east of Exeter, 63 miles north-east of Plymouth and 40 miles north-west of Weymouth.

Several local nature reserves in and around Taunton are protected under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

Taunton is the largest town in the Somerset shire county and forms part of the larger borough of Taunton Deane, which includes the town of Wellington and surrounding villages.

Taunton is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, a Ministry of Defence body responsible for providing navigational and other hydrographic information for national, civil and defence requirements.

Taunton holds the head offices of Debenhams, Western Provident Association, Viridor and CANDAC.

Grounds of Taunton Castle include the Somerset County Museum and The Castle Hotel, which incorporates the Castle Bow archway.

Taunton Flower Show held annually in the park since the 19th century.

Taunton has road links with the M5 motorway junctions 25 and 26 close to the town, and other major roads such as the A38 and A358.

Bridgwater and Taunton Canal is a navigable waterway that links Taunton with Bridgwater, opened in 1827.

State secondary schools in Taunton include The Castle School, Heathfield Community School, Bishop Fox's School and The Taunton Academy.

Taunton is within Somerset Primary Care Trust and home to Musgrove Park Hospital, within Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

Taunton Minster Church of St Mary Magdalene, built of sandstone more in the South Somerset style, retains an attractive painted interior, but its prime feature is a 15th and 16th-century tower rebuilt in the mid-19th century.

Dr Malachi Blake, who founded the Taunton and Somerset Hospital in East Reach, Taunton, was a preacher there, attending in 1809 a celebration of the 50th year of George the Third's reign.

Taunton has several choirs and orchestras that perform in the town's churches and school chapels.

Taunton has three radio stations: BBC Somerset, Tone FM and Apple FM.

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Since 2001 Taunton has been the base of a domestic violence charity, the ManKind Initiative, to help male victims of domestic abuse.

Taunton is mentioned in The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carre, and Evelyn Waugh's Scoop.

The Taunton Vale ground is a regular home venue for Somerset's Second XI.

Taunton Tigers is a semi-professional basketball team competing in the English Basketball League Men's Division 1.

Taunton Racecourse is close to the Blackdown Hills, about 2 miles from the centre of Taunton.

Taunton is twinned with Lisieux in France, Konigslutter in Germany, and Taunton, Massachusetts in the US.