Coordinates: 51°01′08″N 3°06′00″W / 51.019°N 3.100°W / 51.019; -3.100

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

The town has over 1,000 years of religious and military history, and is now undergoing a regeneration project. It has various transport links which support its central role in economy and commerce.

Taunton is the site of Musgrove Park Hospital and Somerset County Cricket Club's County Ground and is home to 40 Commando, Royal Marines. Central Taunton is part of the annual West Country Carnival circuit. It hosts the Taunton flower show, which has been held in Vivary Park since 1866. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office is located on Admiralty Way.

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. King Ine of Wessex threw up an earthen castle here about 700, but it was destroyed by his queen Æthelburg of Wessex in 722, to prevent its seizure by rebels.

Coordinates: 51°01′35″N 3°06′56″W / 51.026282°N 3.115493°W / 51.026282; -3.115493

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 current headmaster is Dr John Hunt Newton, appointed in the autumn of 2005 replacing Julian Whiteley.

The school campus also includes Taunton School International for overseas students; Taunton Preparatory School, serving boarding and day-school pupils aged 7 to 13; Taunton Pre-Prep School, serving day-school pupils aged 4 to 7, and Taunton Nursery, serving pupils aged 2 to 4.

Taunton School was founded in 1847 as a boys-only school for dissenters - those not members of the Church of England. Right from its founding, it was in direct competition with the other independent schools in Taunton: King's College (Church of England) and Queen's College (Methodist). Its first site was at the southern end of the town.

In the 1870s, the school's governors purchased a site at the northern end of Taunton, on Staplegrove Road. They had built, by Joseph James, a gothic-influenced building, in the prevailing style of the period. The school is constructed in a C-plan, with a 50-foot (15 m) high tower. Grey stone came from Somerset's Mendip Hills. This large building still dominates the school's 90-acre (36 ha) campus today. It is a Grade II listed building.

Charles F. "Charlie" Crowley was an American football player and coach. He played collegiately at the University of Notre Dame under Knute Rockne for two seasons as a tackle and running back. Crowley later became the head coach at Columbia University from 1925–1929 and compiled an overall record of 26–16–4.