Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001.

History

The town name derives from "Town on the River Tone" — or Tone Town. Cambria Farm which is now the site of a Park and ride close to Junction 25 of the M5 motorway was the site of a Bronze and Iron Age settlement and Roman farm. There was a Romano-British village near the suburb of Holway, and Taunton was a place of considerable importance in Saxon times. The Saxon town was a burh with its own mint. The bishops of Winchester owned the manor, and obtained the first charter for their "men of Taunton" from King Edward in 904, freeing them from all royal and county tribute. At some time before the Domesday Survey Taunton had become a borough with very considerable privileges, and a population of around 1,500 but it declined in importance and the status of county town transferred to Taunton about 1366. Between 1209 and 1311 the manor of Taunton, which was owned by the Bishop of Winchester, increased two and a half times.

In 1451 during the Wars of the Roses Taunton was the scene of a skirmish between Thomas de Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon and Baron Bonville. Henry VII sent his chief general, Giles, Lord Daubeney to attack the Cornish and when Warbeck heard that the King's scouts were at Glastonbury he panicked and deserted his army. Henry VII reached Taunton on 4 October 1497 were he received the surrender of the remaining Cornish army. The ringleaders were executed and others fined a total of £13,000.

Taunton Castle changed hands several times during the Civil War of 1642-45 but only along with the town. During the Siege of Taunton it was defended by Robert Blake, from July 1644 to July 1645, with the town suffering destruction of many of the medieval and Tudor buildings. On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself king of England at Taunton during the Monmouth Rebellion and in the autumn of that year Judge Jeffreys was based in the town during the Bloody Assizes that followed the Battle of Sedgemoor. The town did not obtain a charter of incorporation until 1627,

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

Regeneration

Taunton was named as a 'Strategically Important Town or City' in the government's Regional Spatial Strategy, allowing Somerset County Council to receive funding for large-scale regeneration projects. In 2006, the council revealed plans which it called "Project Taunton". This would see the regeneration of the areas of Firepool, Tangier, the Retail town centre, the cultural quarter, and the River Tone, aiming to sustain Taunton as a central hub for business in the South West. The Firepool area on the northern edge of Taunton town centre, adjacent to the main line railway station, currently includes a high proportion of vacant or undeveloped land. The Council is promoting a sustainable, high quality, employment-led mixed use development. The Firepool project is set to attract 3000 new jobs and 500 new homes.

In Tangier, a brownfield area between Somerset College of Arts and Technology and the bus station, the project proposes to build small offices and more riverside housing.

The "Cultural Quarter" is the area along the river between Firepool and Tangier. The proposals have plans to extend riverside retail, an aim to attract more smaller, boutique businesses, such as those already found in the Riverside shopping centre.

Plans for the town centre include greater pedestrianization and an increase in size and number of retail units.

Several sites along the River Tone are set to undergo renovation. Firepool Wier lock - long silted up - will be dredged during 2011 to allow boats to pass from the navigable section of the Tone through Taunton to the Taunton-Bridgewater canal. Goodland Gardens will receive a makeover. Projects to develop Somerset Square (the paved area next to the Brewhouse Theatre) and Longrun Meadow (country park near to SCAT) have already been delivered. and a second link road (the Northern Inner Distributor Road) planned for completion by the end of 2013 at a cost of £21 million. The road would link Staplegrove Road with Priory Avenue, running across Kingston Road.

Governance

Taunton includes an area named Holway which was once a village in its own right. Holway was originally one of the Five Hundreds of Taunton Dean, the Infaring division or district of the three districts that made up Taunton Dean. The parish of Staplegrove is situated in the northern suburbs of Taunton. The parish, largely built by Monsell Youell Construction Ltd in the 1970s, has a population of 1,889. The district was given the name of an alternate form of the Taunton hundred.

Taunton Deane Borough Council consists of 55 councillors, of whom 20 are elected for wards in the town of Taunton. The wards are: Blackbrook & Holway; Eastgate; Fairwater; Halcon; Lyngford; Manor & Wilton and Pyrland & Rowbarton. Eastgate ward returns two councillors, with the remaining wards each returning three. At the council elections in May 2007, 17 Liberal Democrats were elected and 3 members of the Conservative Party.

County Council

Somerset County Council is based at County Hall in Taunton, and consists of 58 councillors. The town of Taunton is included in six electoral divisions, each returning a single county councillor: Taunton East; Taunton Fairwater; Taunton North; Taunton South; Taunton West and Taunton and Trull (which also includes rural areas). Five councillors are members of the Liberal Democrats, and one is a Conservative.

United Kingdom Parliament

Taunton Deane is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is based on the town of Taunton but extends to include Wellington, many small villages and parts of Exmoor. The current MP is Jeremy Browne, a member of the Liberal Democrats.

European Parliament

Residents of Taunton also form part of the electorate for the South West England constituency for elections to the European Parliament.

Geography

Taunton lies on the River Tone between the Quantock, Blackdown and Brendon hills in an area known as the Vale of Taunton.

Geology

In the Taunton area Permian (295–250 million years ago) red sandstones and breccia outcrop, while rocks of Triassic age (248–204 million years ago) underlie much of Somerset and form the solid geology to the Somerset Moors and Levels.

Nature reserves

There are several Local Nature Reserves in and around Taunton, which are protected under a statutory designation in Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. South Taunton Streams is an urban wetland, and in the northern suburbs is the Children's Wood riverside reserve which provides a movement corridor for various animals including Otters along the banks of the River Tone. Birds occurring at the site include: Kingfisher, Dipper, Grey Wagtail, Mute Swan, Grey Heron and Reed Warbler. It is also home to butterflies such as the small and Large Skipper, Marbled White, Small Heath and Small Copper, and to dragonflies and damselflies.

Climate

Along with the rest of South West England, Taunton has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is approximately . Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. The summer months of July and August are the warmest with mean daily maxima of approximately . In winter mean minimum temperatures of or are common. |- !UK Census 2001 || Taunton Deane|| South West England || England |- |Total population||102,299||4,928,434||49,138,831 |- |Foreign born||4.1%||9.4%||9.2% |- |White||98.4%||97.7%||91% |- |Asian||0.4%||0.7%||4.6% |- |Black||0.2%||0.4%||2.3% |- |Christian||75.9%||74.0%||72% |- |Muslim||0.3%||0.5%||3.1% |- |Hindu||0.1%||0.2%||1.1% |- |No religion||15.7%||16.8%||15% |- |Over 75 years old||9.5%||9.3%||7.5% |- |Unemployed||2.4%||2.6%||3.3% |} The town of Taunton (which for population estimates includes the unparished area – or former municipal borough – plus the neighbouring parishes of Bishop's Hull, Comeytrowe, Norton Fitzwarren, Staplegrove, Trull and West Monkton) had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001.

The figures below are for the Taunton Deane area.

Economy

Taunton Deane had a low unemployment rate of 4.1% compared with the national average of 5.0% in 2005.

Taunton is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) which is an organisation within the Ministry of Defence responsible for providing navigational and other hydrographic information for national, civil and defence requirements. The UKHO is located on Admiralty Way and has a workforce of approximately 850 staff. At the start of the Second World War chart printing moved to Taunton but the main office did not move until 1968.

The Avimo company, which made precision instruments in Taunton, became part of Thales Optics in 2001, however their manufacturing is no longer in Taunton having been transferred along with a number of staff to Glasgow and Wells. Taunton is also home to the one of the head offices of Debenhams, Western Provident Association, Viridor and CANDAC.

Moreover, the town is home to a Defra regional office at Quantock House on Paul St, the Charity Commission for England and Wales, General Electric, Screwfix. Taunton is also famous for the production of cider.

Landmarks

Gray's Almshouses on East Street were founded by Robert Gray in 1615 for poor single women. The red brick buildings bear the arms of Robert Gray, dated 1635, and another arms of the Merchant Tailors. A small room is used as chapel and has original benches and a painted ceiling. It has been designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building. St Margaret's Almshouses was founded as a leper colony in the 12th century. Glastonbury Abbey acquired the patronage of the hospital in the late 13th century and rebuilt it as almshouses in the early 16th century. From 1612 to 1938 the building continued to be used as almshouses, cared for by a local parish. In the late 1930s it was converted into a hall of offices for the Rural Community Council and accommodation for the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen. It later fell into disrepair until the Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust with Falcon Rural Housing purchased and restored it for use as four dwellings of social housing. It is a grade II* listed building.

The grounds of Taunton Castle include the Somerset County Museum and The Castle Hotel, which incorporates the Castle Bow archway. Together with the municipal buildings they form a three-sided group of buildings just beyond the Castle Bow archway from Fore Street. The centre of the square is used as a car park, and a plain brick edifice of Mecca Bingo hall makes up the west side of it.

The Tudor Tavern (now a branch of Caffè Nero) in Fore Street dates from 1578.

The area by the river north of the centre is surrounded by Morrisons supermarket, retirement housing and the Brewhouse Theatre. Towards the centre, is the Dellers Wharf Nightclub, Bridge Street and Goodlands Gardens. Currently a regeneration programme is being executed, north of Bridge Street, which will include redeveloping the County Cricket Ground. The area has hosted a concert by Elton John in 2006.

Shopping

Hankridge Farm is a retail park close to the M5 motorway, with large stores including PC World and Halfords. In addition, there is a 'Venue' on the park, with restaurants, the Odeon cinema and Hollywood Bowl bowling. Now known as Riverside Retail Park.

The Old Market was a farmers market and took place on the Parade in front of Market House but this eventually moved to the Firepool area, although cattle trading on the site ceased in 2008. A large indoor shopping centre to the east of the Parade was built on a site which had, at one time been a pig market. Although its official name is now Orchard, and before that the Old Market Centre, locals still refer to it as "The Pig Market" as one operated on the site from 1614 to 1882.

The County Walk is an indoor shopping complex in the centre with an anchor supermarket, Sainsbury's.

Public parks

There are a number of public parks around Taunton including Vivary Park, Goodlands Park and Victoria Park. The most notable is Vivary Park, located on land that was formerly a medieval fish farm, or vivarium, for Taunton Priory and Taunton Castle. Fronted by a pair of cast iron gates made by the Saracen Foundry of Glasgow, it contains the Sherford Stream, a tributary of the River Tone, which flows through the park, which is located near the centre of the town. It contains two main wide open spaces, as well as a war memorial dating from 1922, a miniature golf course, tennis courts, two children's playgrounds, a model railway track which was added in 1979, and an 18-hole, 4620-yards, par-63 golf course. The park includes trees, rose beds and herbaceous borders, with around 56,000 spring and summer bedding plants being used each year. and attracts around 24,000 visitors over its two days. Goodlands Gardens, located in the centre of the town, is behind the Debenhams department store and The Castle Hotel.

Transport

Rail

Taunton railway station is on the Bristol to Exeter line, the Reading to Taunton line, and the Cross-Country Route. It is served and operated by First Great Western and served by CrossCountry, with services to Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, London, Exeter, Plymouth and Penzance, as well as the rest of the West Country. There are generally one fast and one slow trains each hour to both Bristol Temple Meads and Exeter St Davids and one train to London Paddington.

The former railway route to has is now a heritage railway known as the West Somerset Railway.

In 2009, Project Taunton, the authority responsible for Taunton's major regeneration project, revealed plans for Taunton metro rail, as part of their transport sustainability plan.

Road

Taunton also has good road links, having the M5 motorway junctions 25 (Taunton) and 26 (Wellington) close to the town, as well as other major roads such as the A38 and A358. The Taunton bypass section of M5, from J25-26, opened in April 1974, relieving the town of heavy holiday traffic on the A38. Taunton Deane services are located between junctions 25 and 26 on the M5. However, with the flourishing local economy, traffic is a problem with Somerset County Council giving a prediction of 300-400% increase based on 2001 levels.

Buses and coaches

Local bus services in Taunton's zone 1 and 2 services are provided by First Avon and Somerset. Local bus services are frequent, with peak time services running as frequent as every 4–9 minutes.

Webberbus run Services 15, 15A and 18. 15 is service connecting Burnham on Sea with Wellington, via Bridgwater and Taunton, calling at stops including Taunton railway station, Castle Way, Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset College. 15A connects Bridgwater with Wellington via Taunton. 18 is a service from Minehead to Taunton, similar to that of First's 28 service, except that it also stops at Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset College.

Taunton Coach Station's operators include National Express, whom run regular London and Heathrow coaches. Local coach operator Berrys of Taunton, runs a number of day excursions and offers the London Superfast service from the Taunton and the West County to London every day.

WebberBus operate the Council supported Park and Ride scheme into the town centre known as the Taunton Flyer. The service operates from Silk Mills park and ride site in Silk Mills Road to the west of the town to Taunton Gateway park and ride site, close to Junction 25 of the M5 to the east of the town. Webberbus took over the contract from Stagecoach Somerset on 1 November 2010.

Air

The nearest airports are Exeter and Bristol, both within 40 miles of Taunton.

Trams

The Taunton Tramway was opened on 21 August 1901. Six double deck cars operated on the gauge line between the railway station and East Reach where the depot was situated. In 1905 the service was withdrawn for two months while the track was improved; the cars were replaced at the same time by six single deck cars and the old double deckers were sold to Leamington Spa. A short extension beyond the station to Rowbarton was opened in 1909 making the line long. The price of its electricity was due to increase in 1928 which the company refused to pay so it offered to sell out but this was not accepted. The electricity was cut off on 28 May 1921 and so the system closed.

Education

State secondary schools in Taunton include The Castle School, Heathfield Community School, Bishop Fox's Community School and The Taunton Academy. State-funded Sixth Form teaching is provided by Richard Huish College. Both Heathfield Community School and The Castle School have or are developing Sixth Forms as an extension to the schools. Heathfield's Sixth Form, named "The Space" (which opened in September 2009) specialises in Performing Arts. Castle's Sixth Form, named Qdos (Opening in September 2010) specialises in Sport. The coeducational independent schools in Taunton are Queen's College, King's College and Taunton School. Further education is provided by Somerset College of Arts and Technology.

In March 2009, it was announced that Jim Knight, Minister of State for Schools and Families, had approved plans that would mean the closure of both Ladymead and nearby St Augustine of Canterbury. The schools are to close in July 2010, to be replaced in September by The Taunton Academy.

Health Services

Taunton is within Somerset Primary Care Trust and is home to Musgrove Park Hospital, within Taunton and Somerset Foundation NHS Trust. This is one of two district hospitals within Somerset alongside Yeovil District Hospital. A Nuffield Hospital is also situated within the town, run privately by Nuffield Health. The town is also home to several doctor's surgeries as well as a family planning clinic and occupational health centre.

Religious sites

The Mary Street Unitarian Chapel, which dates from 1721, is located on Mary Street in Taunton. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, while living Nether Stowey away, came to the chapel to preach on several occasions. Dr. Malachi Blake, who founded the Taunton and Somerset Hospital in East Reach, Taunton, was also a preacher at the chapel, attending in 1809 in celebration of the fiftieth year of George the Third's reign. The Chapel still has the original interior including Flemish oak pillars in the Corinthian style. The pews and pulpit are also in oak, and there is an early 18th century candelabra.

In the latter part of the 17th century, Taunton had two dissenting places of worship: "Paul's Meeting" and the Baptist Meeting. Paul's Meeting was built at the top of Paul Street soon after 1672 on part of a bowling green behind the Three Cups Inn, now The County Hotel, and rapidly became one of the largest congregations in the county. After Mayor Timewell sacked both Paul's Meeting and the Baptist Meeting in 1683, the dissenters were driven to worship in private houses on the outskirts of Taunton, where their assemblies were regularly raided by the Justices. Paul's Meeting survived attempts to turn it into a workhouse and, with the coming of William and Mary, followed by the Toleration Act of 1689, was reopened. The Baptist Meeting became the Baptist New Meeting was registered in 1691 and rebuilt in 1721 as Mary Street Chapel.

The Parish church of St. Mary Magdalene, built of sandstone more in the South Somerset style, preserves an attractive painted interior, but its most notable aspect is its 15th and 16th century tower (rebuilt in the mid-19th century), which is one of the best examples in the country and a tall landmark. It was described by Simon Jenkins, an acknowledged authority on English churches, as "the finest in England. It makes its peace with the sky not just with a coronet but with the entire crown jewels cast in red-brown stone." The tower itself has 12 bells and 3 bells "hung dead" for the clock mechanism.

The Parish church of St. James is also located near the centre of Taunton quite close to St. Mary Magdalene. The oldest parts of St. James Church are early 14th century and there are fragments of 15th century glass in the West end. Like St. Mary's it also has a sandstone tower but built to a much less impressive design. The tower was also like St. Mary's rebuilt in the 19th century – in this case thought to be due to building defects in the original tower. The church backs onto the County Ground and forms a familiar backdrop to the popular Cricket ground.

The church of St John was built in 1864 to designs by Sir George Gilbert Scott.

Popular culture references

Taunton is mentioned in The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré and was given the fictitious name of "Toneborough" by Thomas Hardy.

Taunton also features in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams part of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books.

Comedian Bill Bailey mentions the town in his stand-up DVD Part Troll, claiming to have taken part in a teleportation experiment sponsored by Taunton Cider.

Sport

Stand in the background]] Taunton is home to a number of sport clubs and venues.

The County Ground was originally home to Taunton Cricket Club, which was formed in 1829 and played at The County Ground until 1977 before moving to Moorfields, Taunton in conjunction with Taunton Vale Hockey Club, after which it was solely used by Somerset County Cricket Club. Somerset CCC was formed in 1875, but the club did not achieve first class status until 1891. The County Ground has a capacity of 6,500 and the ends are called the River End and the Old Pavilion End, and one of the main stands is named after Ian Botham. The ground houses the Somerset County Cricket shop and museum, which also has various conference rooms. It is the current home of the England women's cricket team.

Taunton Town F.C. are a football club, who play at Wordsworth Drive in the town. They were formed in 1947 by a few local businessmen as Taunton F.C., changing to the current name in 1968, and played their first friendly fixture in 1948. For most of their history, Taunton were members of the Western League. They spent a six-season spell in the Southern League from 1977, and after a further period in the Western League, returned to the Southern League in 2002, after winning the FA Vase in 2001. After the latest re-organisation of the English football league system, the club are currently members of the Southern League Division One South & West.

Somerset Vikings are a Rugby League Club who were formed at the beginning of 2003 as part of the Rugby Football League's plans to develop the game further beyond the traditional areas in the north of England. Initially the side was made up of a mixture of Royal Marines based in Taunton and Exeter together with a number of local rugby union players keen to try the 13-man code. The Vikings play at Hyde Park which is the home of the Taunton R.F.C., a rugby union club, which was formed in 1875.

The Taunton Tigers is a semi-professional basketball team competing in the English Basketball League Men's Division 1. The team play all their home games at Wellsprings Leisure Centre, which has a capacity of 500 seats.

Taunton Racecourse is close to the Blackdown Hills and about from the centre of Taunton. Although racing had been held in the area previously, the first race at the present site was held on 21 September 1927. The stands are called the Orchard Stand and the Paddock Stand which provide catering facilities and are used for meetings and conferences on days when racing is not taking place.

There is an oval motor racing circuit at Smeatharpe which is close to the Somerset/Devon border, it is frequently referred to as the Taunton Banger racing circuit although it is around 11 miles from central Taunton.

Local skateboarders raised £183,000 for a replacement skatepark at Hamilton Gault Park which opened in May 2010.

Taunton Freeriders is a community mountain bike project in partnership with the Forestry Commission who are developing a series of northshore and downhill (DH) style mountain bike trails just outside of the town. Run by volunteers from the local close-knit riding community and funded solely by kind donations, they are also involved with the redevelopment of the "Norton Dirt Jumps".

Notable residents

The following people were born or have lived in Taunton: Joseph Alleine - (1634–1668). English Puritan Nonconformist pastor and author. Colin Addison - former professional footballer and manager. Born in Taunton 8 May 1940. Jenny Agutter - actress. Born in Taunton 20 December 1952. William Larkins Bernard - architect (1 October 1843 – 22 July 1922). Born in Taunton. Pattie Boyd - Actress and model, born 17 March 1944. Former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton. Andrew Caddick - cricketer. Born in New Zealand 21 November 1968, spent professional career at Somerset County Cricket Club in Taunton. Arthur C Clarke - science fiction author and inventor (16 December 1917 – 19 March 2008). Attended Richard Huish College, Taunton.

Charles George Gordon - British general, known as Gordon of Khartoum. Was educated at Fullands School, now a retirement complex off Shoreditch Road, and also lodged in a house next to the Temple Methodist Church.

Antony Hewish - Astronomer and Nobel Prize for Physics winner Rebecca Huxtable -Born in Taunton. British radio personality and producer, currently co-producing The Scott Mills Show on BBC Radio 1 Alexander William Kinglake - barrister, travel writer and historian (5 August 1809 – 2 January 1891). Born at Wilton House near Taunton. Lee Martin - footballer who plays for Charlton Athletic on loan from Ipswich Town. Born in Taunton 9 February 1987. Deborah Meaden - business mogul, philanthropist, star of T.V series Dragons Den. Born in Taunton 11 February 1959. Frank Montague Moore (1877–1967) - painter and the first director of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, born in Taunton Alfred B. Mullett - architect to Abraham Lincoln. Born in Taunton (April 7, 1834 – October 20, 1890). James Purefoy - actor, one of the stars of the joint HBO-BBC series, Rome. Born in Taunton 3 June 1964. Gary Rhodes - celebrity chef who was head chef at The Castle Hotel from 1986 – 1990. Viv Richards - former West Indies cricketer. Born in Antigua, resident in Taunton while playing for Somerset 1974–1986. Andy Robinson - former England rugby union international and head coach. Now head coach of Scotland. Born in Taunton 3 April 1964 Miranda Shearer - author. Born in Taunton 11 May 1982, but resident of Spaxton and later Over Stowey. Hugh Trenchard, 1st Viscount Trenchard - Military officer involved in establishment of Royal Air Force (3 February 1873 – 10 February 1956). Born in Taunton. Marcus Trescothick - England cricketer, given Taunton Deane Citzenship Award in 2005. Sir Charles Trevelyan, 1st Baronet - Governor of Madras (2 April 1807 – 19 June 1886). Born in Taunton. Phil Vickery - Celebrity Chef Frederick Porter Wensley - chief constable of Scotland Yard CID (1865 – 1949) Born in Taunton. David Henry Wilson - English writer, known for his children's stories such as the Jeremy James series.

Twinning

Taunton is twinned with Lisieux in France, and Koenigslutter in Germany.

References

External links

Taunton's official tourism website

Category:Taunton Category:Taunton Deane Category:Market towns in Somerset Category:County towns in England Category:Towns in Somerset