Market House, Fore Street, Taunton - 01823 340470 tauntontic@tauntondeane.gov.uk

The town name derives from "Town on the River Tone" - or Tone Town.

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.

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 destroyed by his queen Æthelburg of Wessex in 722, to prevent its seizure by rebels.

A monastery was founded before 904. 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 and 64 burgesses, governed by a portreeve appointed by the bishops. Somerton took over from Ilchester as the county town in the late thirteenth century, 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. Queen Margaret and her troops passed through in 1471 to defeat at the Battle of Tewkesbury. In the Second Cornish Uprising of 1497 most of the Cornish gentry supported Perkin Warbeck's cause and on 17 September a Cornish army some 6,000 strong entered Exeter before advancing on Taunton. 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.

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. After the war, in 1662, the keep was demolished and only the base remains. 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, which was renewed in 1677. The charter lapsed in 1792 owing to vacancies for the members of the corporate body, and Taunton was not reincorporated until 1877. The medieval fairs and markets of Taunton (it still holds a weekly market today), were celebrated for the sale of woollen cloth called "Tauntons" made in the town. On the decline of the west of England woollen industry, silk-weaving was introduced at the end of the 18th century.

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.

In World War II the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal formed part of the Taunton Stop Line, designed to prevent the advance of a German invasion. Pillboxes can still be seen along its length.

In 2006, Taunton Deane council revealed plans which it called "Project Taunton". This would see the regeneration of areas such as Firepool, Tangier, aiming to create Taunton as a central hub for business in the South West. The project has identified four areas for regeneration.

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 currently promoting a sustainable, high quality, employment-led mixed use development. In Firepool, the area near Taunton railway station and the County Cricket Ground, are plans to develop high rise offices and small retail outlets in an effort to establish Taunton as a sustainable business district in the South West. Furthermore, plans include to build hundreds of riverside flats. The Firepool project is set to attract 3000 new jobs and 500 new homes. These are intended to create more than 2,000 new homes in the town centre, at least 14,000 new homes across the whole of Taunton, 80,000 square metres (20 acres) of employment space, 50,000 square metres (12 acres) of new retail space and at least 7,000 jobs. In Tangier, the area near the Somerset College of Arts and Technology, the project proposes to build smaller offices and more riverside housing. What has been described as 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. Finally, there are plans to extend the town centre's shopping district by 50% to attract more major retail businesses. Moreover, there are plans to redevelop Goodlands Park in to a more desirable park to compliment the major redevelopment plans. The plans also include replacing Taunton Library in 2011.

The regeneration programme will also include better transport links, with two more park and rides to be established. At present, the Firepool project is scheduled to be completed by early 2018 and the other areas by 2014, however it is anticipated that much of the major changes will be completed by 2012. Work has already begun. For instance, construction work has already begun to create desirable riverside housing in Firepool and Taunton Livestock Market has moved to the outskirts to make way for major redevelopment.