Where to Stay in Taunton, England

What is Taunton known for?

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, and Taunton Castle holds the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum inside its old inner ward, with the Somerset Cricket Museum keeping a narrower record close by. A minster church stands over the streets. St Mary Magdalene, Taunton is that church, and The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre supplies the evenings around it.

What are the main landmarks in Taunton?

Three collections sit inside one castle: the Museum of Somerset, the Somerset Military Museum, and the Somerset Cricket Museum nearby. Hestercombe House stands out in the country, the Castle Hotel and the Manor House hold their own ground in the town, and Wheatleigh House belongs to the same list of protected buildings. Spires crop up on every side.

St Michael's Church, the Church of St George, St Andrew's Church, the Church of the Holy Trinity, and the Church of St John the Evangelist mark parishes across the area.

What is the history of Taunton?

A monastic foundation came first. The 10th-century house here was owned by the Bishops of Winchester, and the Normans rebuilt it as Taunton Castle in the 12th century, giving the town the fortress that has framed almost every event recorded since. Parts of the inner ward survive.

They hold the Museum of Somerset and the Somerset Military Museum, while the Castle Hotel stands alongside them. Rebellion twice reached the castle gates. Perkin Warbeck brought an army to Taunton for the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, and most of it surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497.

The second attempt ended worse. On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England in Taunton, and after the Monmouth Rebellion failed, Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall. A thousand years of record is claimed by the town, and the Somerset Cricket Museum and Hestercombe House carry parts of it beyond the castle walls.

Parishes kept the quieter version. St Mary Magdalene, Taunton, the Church of St. James, Taunton, St George's Roman Catholic Church, Taunton, and the Church of St Mary trace the same centuries through building rather than battle, with the Church of St John and Wheatleigh House among the later additions.

Where is Taunton?

Somerset lies in the south-west of England, and Taunton is its county town. The built ground is compact for a place of that rank, with Bishop's Hull, Trull, and Norton Fitzwarren sitting close enough to be reached on foot in good weather yet still keeping their own parish churches. Farmland starts quickly.

Hestercombe House and Cambria Farm belong to that open country, and the Taunton Vale Sports Club Ground marks the edge between the two.

What is the climate of Taunton?

Cider country needs a soft winter. Taunton gets one, since the mild and wet weather of the south-west of England settles over Somerset for most of the year and hard frost stays rare enough to leave a long growing season. Somerset skies rarely stay dry.

Summers warm slowly, and the fields around Trull and Norton Fitzwarren hold their green well past midsummer.

How do you get to Taunton?

As the county town of Somerset, Taunton is where the rest of the county comes for its markets, its courts, and the collections held in Taunton Castle. Arrivals from Norton Fitzwarren, Bishop's Hull, and Trull are a matter of minutes. Hestercombe House takes longer.

Anyone driving in from that country passes Cambria Farm and the Taunton Vale Sports Club Ground before the streets close in.