Taunton is situated on the river Tone, which rises about six miles north-west from Wiveliscombe, becomes navigable here, and from hence runs into the Parret, between Langport and Bridgewater. The town derives its name from Thono Dunum, or the town upon the river Tone, and extends from east to west about a mile, consisting of four principal streets, which are wide, and contain many well-built houses. The market-place is handsome and spacious, and, nearly in the centre of the town, it has a very commodious market-house, with a town-hall over it, built in 1773. There are two very large markets on Wednesday and Saturday, well supplied with all sorts of provisions. The town stands in a fertile and extensive plain, and is called by Camden one of the eyes of the county. The woollen manufacture has flourished in this town for several centuries: the first manufactory being established here in 1336. In 1780, a silk manufactory was erected.

According to the returns under the Population Act, it appears that Taunton contains 1, 533 houses, and 9, 272 inhabitants.

Taunton is an ancient borough by prescription, and has returned members to parliament from the year 1294, 23 Edward I. The right of election is vested in the parishioners, boiling their own pot (hence called potwallers and potwallopers) residing within the limits of the borough, not being stated paupers, nor having within a twelvemonth received any share from the funds of the respective charities. The town was incorporated by charter from King Charles I. and by another of Charles II., investing the government in a mayor, who returns the burgesses to Parliament. The corporation, besides the mayor, consists of a recorder, a justice of the peace, two aldermen, ten capital and ten inferior burgesses. The justice is always the last mayor, who with two aldermen is annually elected out of the capital burgesses.

The corporation have neither lands, houses, nor joint stock, the last charter precluding them from any such possessions.

From the many Rorman coins and other antiquities, discovered in digging up the foundations of old houses, there is good reason to suppose that this place was not unknown to the Romans; in the Saxon times, it was certainly of great note. Ina, one of the West Saxon kings, as early as the year 700, built a castle on the west side of this town for his residence, and is said to have held here the first great council of his kingdom. This castle was destroyed by his Queen Ethelburga; a new one was built on the site of the former by the bishops of Winchester, about the time of the Conquest, and afterward considerably improved and repaired by other bishops: an embattled gateway, built by Bishop Langton, between 1486 and 1492, is still standing. The manor of Taunton-Dean was in an early period connected with the see of Winchester; but it is uncertain by whose munificence this assignment was made. The town was not only the seat of the Bishop of Winchester’s residence, and a great source of his wealth, but also a mart and place of trade, for then were in it sixty-four burgesses.

The mode of succession in the manor of Taunton is singular, for estates descend to a man’s widow, and a younger son inherits before the elder. On every sale, or mortgage of an estate, it is surrendered into the hands of the lord by delivering of the pen; which surrender is lodged in the Exchequer, a room where all titles of the manor are deposited, and may at any time be examined. The manor originally included the town and borough; but is now distinct; when this separation took place is uncertain. The town, for the most part, now stands on fee simple lands, subject to chief rents, called Bishops’ Rents.

Among the religious foundations for which this town was, in former ages, distinguished, was a priory of Black Canons, situate on the north side of the town without the east gate, built and endowed by William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, in 1127, and dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. This place was much improved by his successor Henry de Blois, brother to King Stephen, and by other benefactors. At the dissolution of monasteries the annual value of its lands was, according to Dugdale, 286l. 8s. 10d.

There were also four chapels, one of which was the present church of St. Mary Magdalen, then dependant upon the mother church, dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. There were also a leper-house, and a house of White or Carmelite Friars. There likewise was six Chantries and a fraternity of the Holy Cross. In 1035, Taunton was appointed to be the see of a suffragan bishop. The first appointment of an Archdeacon of Taunton was in 1106, the 7th of Henry I. His jurisdiction extends over the parishes in Taunton, exclusively of the thirty parishes that constitute the hundred of Taunton-Dean.

The structures at present consecrated to religion are two parish churches, and five dissenting meetings or chapels. Of the parish churches, the largest and most magnificent is that of St. Mary Magdalen, situate near the centre of the town. It is also called Mardelin and Maudlin. It is a vicarage, valued in the king’s books at 20l. 3s. 4d. The original appointment of it took place in 1308, under Walter Haselshaw, then Bishop of Bath and Wells; when probably the original part of the edifice was raised; for the two outer aisles, as appears from the date on the porch, were built, or perhaps one of them only, in 1508. This church is a spacious beautiful Gothic structure, with a fine lofty tower of excellent workmanship, with four stately pinnacles, thirty-two feet high, making the whole height 153 feet. The tower has thirteen handsome windows, with a variety of curious prominent ornaments, that give the whole an air of magnificence, united to an elegant lightness not to be equalled in the county, nor perhaps in the kingdom. The cherubs, lions, spinxes, and other carved work, are much defaced, and the figures that fill the niches round the tower, reported to have represented some of the primitive saints, are wholly destroyed, probably at the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry VIII. or in the civil wars during the reign of Charles I. The tower is supposed to have been erected by Henry the Seventh.

In this church there are no very ancient monuments nor inscriptions.

The other church, dedicated to St. James, is a strong, plain, ancient building, but very much inferior, in every respect, to St. Mary. Magdalen. It is supposed to have been erected some time in the 13th century.

The free grammar-school is a large strong building, with a house adjoining for the master. It was founded by Fox, Bishop of Winchester, in the reign of Henry VII. whose arms are over the entrance; and was endowed, in 1553, by William Walbeck and William Pool, of Colyford, Esquires. The master is nominated by the Warden of New College in Oxford. A weekly newspaper called the Taunton Courier is printed in this town.

There are two almshouses in this town; one founded by Robert Gray, Esq., in 1635, for six poor men and a reader, and ten poor women, with an allowance of two shillings a week to each, and two shillings and sixpence to the reader. The building is 150 feet in length, having, besides the chapel and school room, seventeen separate apartments, with a small garden to each. The other almshouse was erected some time in the year 1616, and derives its name from the founder, Richard Huish, Esq., one of the family of the Huishes of Doniford, in the county of Somerset, and of Sand, in the parish of Sudford, in the county of Devon. The building, a large good house, ninety-five feet in length, is laid out into a chapel and thirteen separate rooms for thirteen poor, needy, maimed, impotent, or aged men; one of the most discreet of whom, who can write and read English, is appointed president or reader, with a pension of three shillings and four-pence per week; two shillings and eight-pence per week is allowed to each of the other twelve.

The county, or assize hall, forms part of the castle. In its ancient state its dimensions were 119 1/2 feet by 30, and the two courts, civil and criminal, were held at each end, without any intersecting walls: but it has, within a few years past, been divided into two distinct courts, laid out in different apartments, accessible by different doors. The castle is held under the Bishop of Winchester by John Hammet, esq., as a purchase made by his father to secure the use of the hall for the purpose of holding the assizes in it, when the ruinous state into which it had fallen, under a former tenant and possessor, threatened the removal of them. It is now invested in trustees for that purpose.

The other public buildings, in this town, are a neat theatre, a bridewell, and a county gaol, for such as are guilty of felonies, misdemeanors, or a breach of the peace; but not for debtors.

The hundred of Taunton Dean, is a large district, remarkable for its beauty and fertility; upon which Drayton, in the third song of his Polyolbion, passes this encomium:

"What ear so empty is that hath not heard the sound

Of Taunton is fruitful Deane; not match’d by any ground."

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TAUNTON is a parliamentary and municipal borough, market, county and assize town, head of a petty sessional, union and county court district, distant by railway 163 ¼ miles from London, 44 ½ south-west, from Bristol, 30 ¾ north-east from Exeter, 51 ½ south-west from Bath, 7 ½ east-north-east from Wellington and 11 south-by-west from Bridgwater, with a station on the north of the town on the Bristol and Exeter section of the Great Western railway, and is the junction of the Devon and Somerset, the West Somerset and the Chard branches with the main line; it is in the Western division of the county, hundred of Taunton, rural deanery and archdeaconry of Taunton and diocese of Bath and Wells.

Taunton is on the river Tone, formerly navigable by means of locks to the town, but which ceased to be used after the Taunton and Bridgwater canal was opened, although the conservators have power to restore the navigation of the river whenever the canal shall cease to be navigable.

The Great Western railway passes through St. James’ parish.

Taunton is a place of great antiquity, and was called by the Saxons “Tantune,” from its situation on the river Tone, and from the discovery in the neighbourhood of several urns containing Roman coins, it is supposed to have existed in the time of the Romans. The town and manor were subsequently granted to the church of Winchester, and another castle built on the site of the first by the bishops of Winchester, in which for many years they principally resided: in the reign of William I. Taunton had a mint, and enjoyed the privileges attached to the possession of that honour. In 1497, during the reign of Henry VII. the impostor Perkin Warbeck seized the town and castle, which he abandoned on the approach of the kings troops. During the Civil war the place was alternately occupied by both sides, and in 1645, after sustaining a prolonged siege, capitulated. At the Restoration, the walls of the town were razed to the ground, and so effectually that not even their site can now be traced. The inhabitants took a prominent part in the rebellion of Monmouth in June, 1685, presenting stands of colours to his troops, and to himself a richly embroidered standard.

The town is in a central part of the beautiful and luxuriant vale of Taunton Dean, and consists of three main streets, meeting in the centre of the town, where there is a fine open triangular space, called “The Parade,” inclosed with iron posts and chains, and in which stands a handsome market cross ornamented with small figures; there are, besides, many smaller streets. The principal streets are spacious and well paved and the houses chiefly built of brick. The town is partially lighted by electricity from works in St. James’ street and with gas from works in Tangier, the property of the Taunton Gas Light and Coke Co. established in 1845; it is well supplied with excellent water obtained from the Blackdown Hills, and brought to the town by gravitation. A bridge over the Tone, connecting the town proper with that portion called “North Town,” was constructed in 1895, from the design of Mr. James Henry Smith, the borough surveyor, and cost £7,000: an electric tramway, passing through the town, is now (1901) in course of construction.

Taunton was incorporated by a charter of Charles I. 1627, but this charter was annulled on the restoration of Charles II. on account of the support given by the town to the Parliamentary party during the Civil war another charter, however, was granted a few years after, enlarging the boundaries of the borough, and devolving, the civil government on a mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough; but the corporation having failed or neglected to keep up the requisite number of aldermen, and burgesses, this charter lapsed in 1792. A new charter of incorporation was granted to the town on the 17th. April, 1877, by which the corporation now consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 town councillors, and the borough is divided into east, north and west wards. The police arrangements are under the County Constabulary force.

The assizes are held here in the spring and winter, and there are also Midsummer and Epiphany quarter sessions.

Taunton fomerly returned two members to Parliament, but under the provisions of the “Redistribution of Seats.-Act, 1885,” the number was reduced to one; the municipal and parliamentary borough comprises the parishes of St. James, St. Mary Magdalene, part of St. George’s (Wilton), and part of Bishops Hull.

The church of St. Mary Magdalene, situated near the centre of the town, is a spacious edifice of stone, chiefly of the Perpendicular period, consisting of a chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and a magnificent western tower containing a peal of 10 unusually fine and melodious bells: the north aisle is in part Early English, and there are many ancient monuments: the interior was completely and elaborately restored in 1845, during the incumbency of the late Rev. Dr. James Cottle; vicar from 1840, and the famous tower was entirely rebuilt in fac-simile of the old tower during the years 1858—1862, under the direction of the late Sir George Gilbert Scott R.A. and Benjamin Ferrey esq. of London; it consists of four stages, the lowermost, containing a fine west window, forms an entrance porch; the remaining three stages are lighted by coupled ogee windows, which add much to its lightness and beauty; double-buttresses at the angles, rising to the fourth stage, terminate in pinnacles, and the whole is crowned by an elaborately panelled parapet with square embattled turrets, finished with crocketed spirelets and vanes, smaller flying pinnacles, projecting at the angles: its height, exclusive of the angle turrets, is 131 feet; the latter, 32 feet high, are supported by flying buttresses from the parapet, and make the total height to the vanes 163 feet: the only portions of sculpture belonging to the old tower now remaining are in the spandrils of the western entrance, and represent the Day of Judgment and Doom: in 1867 a stone pulpit was erected, and from 1869 to 1872 numerous improvements of an important character were effected, including the raising of the chancel and the election of a reredos, designed by the late G. E. Street esq. R.A. at the expense of John Marshall esq. of Belmont; figures of the Twelve Apostles have also been placed in the niches of the clerestory; the east window, erected in 1887, was presented by John Marshall esq. of Belmont: there are sittings for 1,200 persons. The register dates from the year 1558. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £190, including 31 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Church Patronage Society, and held since 1887 by the Rev. William Henry Askwith M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, prebendary of Wells, rural dean of Taunton and Wellington, and surrogate.

The church of St. James is an edifice of stone, in the Late Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and a western tower, with pinnacles, 116 feet in height and containing 6 bells: the tower, having fallen into a state of dilapidation, was taken down in 1870, and re-erected in fac-simile under the direction of Mr. J. H. Spencer, architect of this town, the work being completed in 1875: the church contains mural monuments with arms to the members of the Yea family, including one to Colonel Lacy Yea, who fell at the head of his regiment at the attack on the Great Redan, Sebastopol, on the 18th of June, 1855, and another to Sir William Walter Yea bart. who died May 20, 1862: the west window is also a memorial of the Yea family: the east window was inserted by the late Rev. Canon Liddon, of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, to members of his family: in 1884—5 the chancel was entirely rebuilt and a side chapel and organ chamber added, at a cost of £2,200, from designs by Mr. E. B. Ferrey, of London: there are sittings for 800 persons. The register dates from the year 1626. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £300, with residence, in the gift of Simeon’s trustees, and held since 1900 by the Rev. Frederick William Young M.A. of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and surrogate.

Holy Trinity is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in 1842, The church, in Trinity street, was built by subscription, at a cost of about £7,000, and consecrated June 18, 1842, and is a building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave and an embattled western tower, containing a clock and one bell: the organ was presented to the church by a former vicar; was rebuilt by subscription, and a brass lectern and chancel gates were presented by Dr. Edward Liddon, in 1892: a parish room, also used as a vestry, was built in 1887, at a cost of £350, and is connected with the church on the south-east by a covered way: there are about 750 sittings. The register dates from the year 1842. The living is a perpetual curacy, net yearly value about £240, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and held since 1890 by the Rev. Edward Armstone Ducket M.A. of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and chaplain to the Taunton and Somerset hospital.

The church of St. George, WILTON, is a building of stone, principally in the Perpendicular style, with slight remains of Early English work, and consists of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 5 bells: the church was rebuilt in 1854, and in 1870 the interior was reseated, restored and beautified, and the south porch rebuilt at a cost of £600: a carved stone reredos representing “the Ascension” was erected in 1887: there are sittings for 200 persons. The register dates from the year 1558. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £80, with 5 ½ acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of trustees, and held since 1901 by the Rev. John Muston Bastard M.A. of St. John’s College, Oxford.

The Catholic church, dedicated to St. George, and standing on high ground, at the top of Billet street, was opened April 24, 1861, and consists of chancel, nave of six bays, aisles and a western tower, 112 feet in height, and containing 8 bells: the Very Rev. Canon Daniel Iles L.D. is the priest.

The Convent, formerly called " The Lodge,” is a Catholic institution of the order of St. Francis of Assisi, and took its rise early in the 13th century: the ladies of this establishment came over from Belgium during the French Revolution of 1793, and settled first at Winchester, and subsequently at Taunton, where they purchased their present property in 1807; a limited number of young ladies of Catholic families are here educated.

The Convent of Perpetual Adoration, Park street, formerly established at Cannington, near Bridgwater, was removed to Paul’s House, Taunton, in 1867. The religious of this order (unlike the numerous orders devoted to active works of charity) consecrate themselves to a life of contemplation and special prayer. The order was established in France in the middle of the 17th century, and this community was founded in England by the Hon. and Right Rev. Dr. Clifford, bishop of Clifton, in 1863. In 1867 the nuns purchased the property in Bishops Hull, known as Paul’s House, from the Cole family, and shortly after added to the mansion and built a chapel, which has a spire surmounted by a large gift figure of the Archangel Gabriel, and is always open to the public: the sanctuary is beautifully decorated, and the altar exceedingly rich in alabaster and paintings.

On the site of the present convent there formerly stood a monastery of Carmelite Friars, founded by W. de Meryet, and dissolved in the time of Henry VIII. but no portion of the ancient building now remains.

The Unitarian (formerly Presbyterian) chapel was founded in 1646; the interior has very fine carved oak pillars and pulpit: the chapel will seat 500 persons. The registers date only from 1747. The Congregational chapel, called “Paul’s Meeting House,” founded in 1662, built in 1672 and rebuilt in 1797, has sittings for 1,000 persons; its registers date from 1699. There is also a Congregational chapel in North street, seating 800 persons. The Baptist chapel in Silver street was founded in 1815, but has registers dating from 1782: it will seat 750 persons. Albemarle Baptist chapel was built in 1875, and has 500 sittings; attached is a lecture room, seating 150 persons. The Octagon chapel, founded as a Baptist meeting house in 1816, but abandoned by that sect in July, 1826, now belongs to the Brethren; the original registers date from the foundation; the chapel has 200 sittings: there is a meeting house for the Society of Friends, in Bath place, originally erected in 1693, and seating 100 persons; attached is a burial ground. The Temple Wesleyan chapel in Upper High street was founded in 1778, and has 1,100 sittings; the registers of births, baptisms and burials date from 1785. The Wesleyan chapel in Victoria street has 400 sittings. Ebenezer Bible Christian chapel, Magdalene street, was built in 1864, and has sittings for 350 persons.

St. Mary Magdalene and Bishops Hull cemetery, in Bishop’s Hull road, was formed in 1854, at a cost of £6,000, is 8 ½ acres in extent, a portion being reserved for Catholics, and has 2 mortuary chapels; it is under the control of a Burial Board of thirteen members. St. James’ cemetery, Frieze Hill, formed in 1877, at a cost of £500, is 5 acres in extent; it has one mortuary chapel and is under the control of a Burial Board of nine members.

The Municipal buildings, in Corporation street, formerly those of the Grammar school, founded in 1522, by Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester, were purchased by the corporation, and converted to their present use; they are Late Perpendicular in style, and include a good open timbered roof.

The Shire Hall is a handsome and substantial building of stone in the Elizabethan style, erected from designs by W. B. Moffat esq. architect, of London: the foundation stone was laid by Viscount Portman, lord-lieutenant of the county, in August, 1855, and the building was opened for the Lent assizes in 1858: the total cost, including purchase of land, fixtures and furniture, amounted to about £28,000: it consists of a fine entrance hall, leading to the courts on either side, retiring rooms, a well-proportioned room for the grand jury, and a fine suite of apartments, for the judges; in the entrance hall are marble busts of several Somersetshire worthies, viz.-John Locke, philosopher and statesman; Admiral Robert, Blake; John Pym, statesman; Thomas Young M.D.,; F.R.S.; Bishop Ken; Henry Byam D.D. chaplain to Charles II.; Capt. John Hanning Speke, the distinguished African explorer; Henry Lord Taunton; Edwin Norris, linguist and philologist; Charles Summers, sculptor (the work, of his former pupil, Miss Thomas); Henry Fielding, the novelist; Brigadier-Gen. John Jacob C.B. and Wilson Fox M.D., F.R.S, physician in ordinary to Queen Victoria. The meetings of the County Council axe held here.

The Assembly-rooms at the London hotel are available for balls, concerts, public assemblies &c.; the large room is 90 feet by 40 feet, and 30 feet high; the smaller room, 60 feet by 30 feet, and 20 feet high; a new stage, with dressing rooms attached, was erected in 1901. There are also good assembly-rooms at the Town Hall, and at the Municipal buildings.

His Majesty’s Prison is in Shuttern, opposite the Shire Hall, with which it has underground communication; the building, which covers an area of 4 ½ acres, is of stone, with a governor’s house and offices of brick, fronting the street, but is now closed.

The Masonic Hall is in the Crescent; the “Unanimity and Sincerity Lodge,” No. 261, founded in 1788, holds its meetings here on the 3rd Wednesday in the month from September to May, and has over 100 members.

The New Market, on the west side of the Parade, is a building of the Ionic order: it contains a large hall and other apartments, known as the “Victoria Rooms,” which are used for the purposes of the Taunton School of Art: the basement is occupied by shops for butchers, poulterers, fishmongers and fruiterers. The markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday, principally the latter, and are well supplied with provisions of all kinds. The market for cattle, sheep and corn is held on Saturdays.

Fairs for cattle, sheep and horses are held on June 17th and July 7th.

The Old Market House, which stands in the centre of the town, is a plain brick building, with a clock in the centre of the front elevation, and has on either side an arcade, used by various tradesmen on market days: the interior comprises the Guildhall, a handsome assembly room, containing a full-length portrait of George III. and other apartments.

There are several factories, producing linen collars and cuffs, a silk factory and others for the making of gloves and paper boxes; besides these there are several small iron and brass foundries, coach making, malting and brewing establishments and cabinet manufactories.

Taunton contains many good and comfortable hotels and commercial inns.

Here are four banks, viz. Stuckey’s Banking Company, the Wilts & Dorset Bank and Fox, Fowler & Co. in Fore street and the Devon and Cornwall Bank in North street. The West Somerset Savings Bank, in Upper High street, was first established in 1817, the number of depositors on Nov. 20th, 1900, was 9,527, and the amount standing to their credit at the same date was £219,439 11s.1d.

The Somerset County Club is in Fore street.

The Somerset County Cricket Club has grounds at the top of St. James’ street, provided with a grand stand and pavilion and a good cycle track.

There are nine weekly newspapers published in the town.

Taunton is the depot of Regimental District No. 13 Prince Albert's (Somersetshire Light Infantry), which is composed of four battalions, 1st and 2nd battalions (13th foot), and 3rd and 4th battalions (1st and 2nd Somerset Militia), whose head-quarters are here, and for whom new barracks have been erected; a monumental cross, erected on the Parade, as a memorial to the officers and men of the above regiment who fell in the Burmese war, was unveiled July 30, 1889: the old colours of the 2nd battalion were deposited in St. Mary’s Church in 1894.

The West Somerset Imperial Yeomanry have their head quarters in Middle street.

In Shuttern are the head quarters of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion Prince Albert’s (Somersetshire Light Infantry).

The Taunton and Somerset Hospital, in East reach, was founded in 1809, in commemoration of the entry of King George III. upon the fiftieth year of his reign: in 1870 an eastern wing, mortuary and convalescent wards were erected, and in 1873 a west wing was added: these additions, designed by Mr. J. Houghton Spencer, architect, of this town, were built at a cost of about £3,000; the hospital is attended by the principal medical man of the town, and is benefited by the Tone Navigation fund and Mary Blake’s and the Rev. F. J. Smiths charities, of the annual value of £89; the number of in-patients attended during the year (1900) was 846 and of out-patients, 4,191.

The total number of in-patients attended since the 25th Mar. 1812, to January 1st 1901, was 42,164; the total of out-patients during the same period was 190,561.

The Nursing Institution, erected in 1887, from designs by J. H. Spencer esq. of Taunton, is built principally of brick in the Italian style, with a frontage from east to west of about 74 feet, and adjoins the west wing of the Taunton and Somerset Hospital: the floor on the street level is occupied by rooms devoted to out-patients of the hospital and a waiting room, 53 feet long by 24 feet wide: on the same floor are dispensing and consulting rooms. The nursing institution proper, which occupies the two floors above the out-patients’ department, has on the first floor eight bed-rooms all opening into a central hall, on the right of which are apartments for the head nurse and her assistants; the storey above has nine bedrooms and a nurses’ day room.

The Eye Infirmary, in Shuttern, established in 1816, is supported by voluntary contributions.

The St. Saviour’s Home for Boys, in Park street, founded in 1870, is designed to educate and start in life, orphan, deserted, or neglected boys.

Gray’s Almshouses, in East street, were founded in 1635, by Robert Gray esq. a native of this town, who endowed them with £3,600, which provides ten, poor women and six men with lodgings and a weekly allowance of three shillings; and one reader with six shillings per week.

St. Margaret’s Hospital, at the bottom of East reach, between the High road and Mill lane, and in the parish of West Monkton, was founded at some period before or between the years 1174 and 1185, as a lazar house, and on June 22, 1236, received a grant of protection from Henry III.; subsequently the hospital was endowed with the benefactions of Thomas Lambrit or Lambright, and in 1418, Nicholas Bubwith, bishop of Bath and Wells, granted an indulgence “durante bene placito,” to such persons as should contribute to its repairs and support: at the beginning of the reign of Henry VIII. it appears to have been destroyed by fire, and shortly thereafter rebuilt by Richard Beere, abbot of Glastonbury, whose monogram, surmounted by a mitre with infulae, appears on the building: in April, 1545, a portion of the hospital property was sold by Henry VIII. and in the succeeding reign the chapel of the hospital was also disposed of. In 1612, by an Order of Sessions, dated Sept. 15, regulations were made under the authority of the Court of Chancery for the administration of the foundation as an almshouse, and it has so continued: the structure consists of seven tenements of two storeys, those at each end projecting, but the roof is continuous and is supported along the space between the wings by wooden posts rising from a low wall and forming a kind of cloister; the east and west ends are gabled: the present endowment amounts to about £45 yearly, which sum is applied to repairs and in aid of the poor’s rates; the inmates are all in receipt of parochial relief.

Huish’s Almshouses, in Magdalene street, were founded and endowed by Richard Huish esq. for “thirteen poore, needy, maimed, impotent, and aged men”: the President, who reads prayers daily in the common-room of the building, receives 9s. a week; other inmates have 7s. a week, besides clothing. The charity is now administered in connection with the schools of the charity, under a scheme of the Endowed Schools Commissioners.

Henley’s and Pope’s Almshouses are for poor persons, who occupy them rent-free, but receive no allowance.

Of the other charities, that arising from the town lands is the principal: the property consists of houses and lands to which no claimant appeared after the desolation of Taunton by the Plague; and these, together with land and houses purchased under bequests of John Meredith and Margery Acland, are vested in feoffees, who in 1845 erected almshouses for 20 poor people in Magdalene lane: the annual income from this charity is about £430, and is distributed among the poor of the parish of St. Mary Magdalene. Carey’s charity of £30 yearly, also belonging to St. James’ parish, is for fuel.

There are five almshouses in St. James’ parish for aged women, who are appointed by the incumbent, subject to the approval of the churchwardens.

Curtis’s charity, which yields £7 10s. yearly, is applied to the education of the children of the poor of St. James' parish.

Vivary Park, laid out in 1896, cost £6,000, and has an area of 11 ½ acres. The Recreation Ground at French Weir is 6 ½ acres in extent, and, together with the equipments for bathing, cost £4,750; there is also a recreation ground of 6 acres in East reach, opened in 1895.

Taunton was the birthplace of Samuel Daniel, poet-laureate (1599—1619), who was born here in 1562 and died Oct. 1619; here also was born Jan. 4, 1683, the Rev. Henry Grove, an eminent Dissenting minister and writer on theological subjects. Alexander William Kinglake esq. author of “Eothen,” a model book of travels, and the “History of the Crimean War,” was born here in 1811 and died 1890. Among the bishops of Winchester who made the castle their occasional residence were Cardinals Beaufort (1405—47) and Wolsey (1530—31).

The principal residences in Taunton are-Pyrland Hall, in the parish of St. James’, a handsome and commodious mansion, situate in a well-wooded park of 50 acres, and commanding a fine view of the surrounding country: it was the seat of the Yea family, and formerly the property of Sir Henry Lacy Yea bart. on whose death in 1864 the title became extinct: it was for upwards of thirty years the residence of the late Richard Meade-King esq. J.P. and is now the residence of Mrs. E. K. Withington. Flock House, in North Town, is a mansion originally of the Elizabethan period, but the exact date of its erection is not known; there is a chimney-piece bearing the date 1652. Lyngford, in the parish of St. James’, the residence of Mrs. Allen, is a handsome mansion, standing in grounds commanding a fine view of the adjacent country. Belmont is the property and residence of S. V. P. Mitchell esq.

Taunton Castle, an object of conspicuous local interest, was founded by Ina, king of the West Saxons, in 702, a date nearly 200 years earlier than that of the foundation of any other fortress mentioned in the Saxon chronicle, and here he held his first great council: during a rebellion in 722, when it was seized by Eadbricht, king of the South Saxons, its timber-work was destroyed by Ethelburga, queen of King Ina, but was afterwards rebuilt. In the following reign, being then a royal residence, it was given with the manor of Taunton Deane to the church of Winchester. William Gifford, who as bishop of Winchester (1107—29) held the lordship, Henry of Blois, his successor (1129—74) and following prelates, resided here, and the castle received from them considerable additions, especially towards the end of the 13th century or early in the 14th century, when the existing south front with its circular towers was erected. The whole building was repaired and an embattled gateway built by bishop Thomas Langton (1493—1502): this gateway is still standing and has over it, fronting the Castle green, two escutcheons, the lower one being charged with a cross on which are five roses with the date 1495 in Arabic numerals, and the upper escutcheon bears the arms of King Henry VII.: the present hall, which until 1858 was used as the assize hall, was restored by Bishop Robert Horne in 1557, since which time it has frequently been repaired and remodelled. The moat was filled up in 1758, and the drawbridge removed: among the constables of this ancient fortress appears the name of Thomas Chaucer, a relative of Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English poetry. During the Civil War the castle was at first held for the Parliament, but surrendered to the Marquess of Hertford; it was afterwards re-taken and held by the famous Robert Blake, better known as “Admiral Blake,” against the far superior forces of Lord Goring, until the siege was raised by the arrival of Fairfax. The castle occupies a gravelly eminence of no great height, on the right bank of the river Tone, which forms the northern boundary of the area, the remaining sides being protected by tributary streams, while on the east and south it is covered by the town; the space thus inclosed forms a trapezium of about 7 acres, of which a portion on the north, comprising about one-fourth of the whole area, constitutes the inner court and measures about 123 yards from east to west and 73 from north to south; this is again sub-divided into eastern and western courts, and in the latter stand the principal existing remains of the fortress, which include the keep, a rectangular embattled structure, 50 by 40 feet, with walls 13 feet thick and a square battlemented staircase turret at the north-east angle, rising above the parapet; the basement is vaulted; the original north wall of the Norman castle, which is about 140 feet in length and joins the eastern face of the keep, though much mutilated and greatly reduced in height, retains its flat buttresses, and at its eastern end has a postern with segmental arch; the west front of the keep is continued at the same height till it reaches the south-west angle, where there is a great circular tower with splayed base, which has been refaced: the corresponding tower, which stood at the south-east angle, is now replaced by a gabled building; the south front, which extends between these points, is 140 feet long, and in the centre is a slightly projecting gateway, with a wide entrance arch and a chamber above it; this work is chiefly Early Decorated, but has Perpendicular additions: there are still remains of the eastern gatehouse, a structure of large size, with massive moulded arches on corbels, at the end of a passage 60 feet in length; over this entrance was a small room for the working of the machinery of the portcullis and drawbridge; and also a spacious apartment used as a chapel, two windows of which, in the Early Decorated style, remain on the north side, but are now walled up in the masonry of the modern house: the eastern part of the inner court was defended by earthworks, consisting of two ramparts, from 18 to 24 feet thick and about 10 feet high, running along the east and south fronts, and against which the Norman wall was built. Jeffreys (chief justice 1683—5) held his “Bloody Assize” in the Great Hall in June, 1685, after the battle of Sedgmoor, when over 300 of the insurgents were executed in various parts of the county, 19 being hanged opposite the White Hart inn in this town. This ancient and historical fortress was acquired in 1874, at a cost, including the purchase of a house and garden adjoining, and various incidental expenses, of £4,329, by the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society: the museum of this society, occupying six rooms on the ground and first floors, contains a valuable collection of objects of interest in both departments, including a very numerous series of casts from the exterior and interior of the cathedral at Wells, early British remains from Worlebury, Wincanton, Culbone Hill, Wiveliscombe and other places in the county; Roman remains from Norton Fitzwarren, Shepton Mallet, High Ham, Drayton, Pitney, Combe St. Nicholas, Hamdon Hill, Charter House on Mendip, North Perrott and other localities; a piece of Roman tesselated pavement found at East Coker; stone and bronze weapons, from the county and elsewhere, some of great rarity; sculpture’s forming a portion of the old reredos of Wellington church; seals, medals and coins and tokens, including many Saxon coins from local mints; a mummy and other Egyptian antiquities; many examples of the art of pottery-making; early charters and books exhibited as specimens of caligraphy; a collection of relics from the field of Sedgmoor; and a unique reliquary, found in 1849, in the church of St. Paul, Kewstoke: in geology the museum is especially rich, containing, amongst others, some fine specimens of Saurians from the has of the county, and Devonian fossils; while the collection of bones from the caves of the Mendip Hills is perhaps unequalled in England, containing many unique specimens of the remains of the lion, hysena, wolf, bear, fox, otter, many specimens of rodents, elephant, mammoth, rhinoceros, horse, ox, bison, deer and reindeer: the large collection of original drawings of churches and domestic architecture in the county, formerly belonging to the late J. H. Smyth Pigott esq. of Weston-super-Mare, is also deposited here. The rooms upstairs are devoted chiefly to the Ethnographical collection, illustrating the arts of Eastern nations and savages, the chief localities represented being North and South America, West and South Africa, India, Borneo, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Ocean. There is also a general Natural History collection, illustrative of animals, birds &c. found in the county; and the nucleus of a library, of about 9,000 volumes, containing some valuable books and manuscripts, and including the Surtees collection of books. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Sundays, Christmas Day and Good Friday only excepted. The Hon. General Secretaries are Lieut.-Col. Bramble F.S.A. Rev. F. W. Weaver F.S.A, and Mr. Charles Tite; Curator and Assistant Secretary, Mr. H. St. George Gray.

Edward Irwin Bainbridge Cox esq. of Moat Mount, Hendon, Middlesex, and Dr. Hamilton Kinglake are lords of the manor of Taunton Dean; deputy steward, H. Byard Sheppard, 8 Hammet street, Taunton.

The original parishes forming the borough of Taunton have, since March, 1885, been re-arranged as under:-The area of St. James’ has been constituted two parishes, viz.: St. James’ Within, 507 acres of land and 14 of water; assessable value, £47,017; and St. James’ Without, 838 acres of land and 9 of water; rateable value, £3,405; population, 1891: St. James’ Within, 8,327; St. James’ Without, 312; the latter a new parish formed from a portion of St. James’ outside the municipal borough, the remaining portion being amalgamated with Staplegrove. The area of St. Mary Magdalene parish is 1,109 acres and has been made into two parishes; assessable value of St. Mary Magdalene Within, £39,383; population in 1891, 8,327; and of St. Mary Magdalene Without, £3,664; population in 1891, 254. St. Mary Magdalene Within parish was formed March, 1885, by the amalgamation of the part within the municipal limits with that portion of West Monkton also within; St. Mary Without was also formed at the same date and consists of the portion of St. Mary outside the borough boundary, and a part of Wilton also outside; the remaining portion of the latter beyond the boundary being united to Bishops Hull extra-municipal to form the new parish of Bishops Hull Without; area of Bishops Hull Within, 106 acres; assessable value, £6,004; area Bishops Hull Without, 1,423 acres of land and 18 of water; assessable value, £5,621. The area of Wilton parish is 248 acres; assessable value, £5,951. The population of the municipal and parliamentary borough in 1891 was 18,026, viz.:-St. Mary Magdalene Within, 8,327 (including 127 in the Taunton and Somerset Hospital; 4 officers and 198 inmates in the workhouse and 283 in the barracks); St. James’ Within, 8,327; Bishops Hull Within, 594; Wilton, 778.

The population of the ecclesiastical parishes in 1891 was:-St. James’, 5,909; St. Mary Magdalene, 8,327; Holy Trinity, 3,533; St. John the Evangelist, Bishops Hull, 680; St. Andrew, Rowbarton, 3,044; St. George, Wilton, 933.

The population of the municipal borough in 1901 was 21,078, and of the parliamentary borough 19,714.

The number of electors on the Parliamentary register in 1901 was 3,300.

By Local Government Board Order 10,142, March 25, 1885, Galmington hamlet was transferred from Wilton to Bishops Hull.

Petty Sessions are held at the Shire hall every alternate Saturday at 11. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Angersleigh, Bickenhall, Bishops Hull, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Churchstanton, Corfe, Creech St. Michael, Curland, Durston, Hatch Beauchamp, Kingston, North Curry, Norton Fitzwarren, Orchard Portman, Otterford, Pitminster, Ruishton, Staple Fitzpaine, Staplegrove, Stoke St. Gregory, Stoke St. Mary, Taunton St. Mary Magdalene, Taunton St. James’, Thornfalcon, Thurlbear, Trull, West Hatch, West Monkton.

Petty Sessions are held in the Shire hall every Wed. at 11 a.m. except during the holding of assizes & quarter sessions, when the petty sessions are held at the Guildhall.

TAUNTON UNION

Board day, fortnightly, Wednesday, at 2.30, at the Workhouse.

The Union comprises the following parishes:-Angersleigh, Ash Priors, Bickenhall, Bishops Hull (Within & Without), Bishops Lydeard, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Churchstanton, Combe Florey, Corfe, Cothelstone, Creech St. Michael, Curland, Durston, Halse, Hatch Beauchamp, Heathfield, Kingston, Lydeard St. Lawrence, North Curry, Norton Fitzwarren, Orchard Portman, Otterford, Pitminster, Ruishton, Staplegrove, Staple Fitzpaine, Stoke St. Gregory, Stoke St. Mary, Taunton St. James (Without & Within), Taunton St. Mary Magdalene (Without & Within), Thornfalcon, Thurlbear, Tolland, Trull, West Bagborough, West Hatch, West Monckton, Wilton.

The population of the union in 1901 was 38,643; assessable value in 1901, £211,678; area, 73,109 acres.

The Workhouse, South st. was built in 1837 & will hold 410 inmates.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

St. Mary Magdalene Church, Rey. William Henry Askwith M.A. vicar; Rev. Frederick Edmonds Powning M.A. curate; 11 am. & 3.15 & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m. & Thur. 2 p.m. in winter & 3 p.m. in summer; holy communion every Sunday at 8 am. & noon.

St. James, Rev, Frederick William Young M.A. vicar; 8 & 11 am. & 3 & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. John, Park street, Rev. Thomas Edward Morris Barrow M.A. vicar; Rev. Arthur Montford B.A. curate; 8 & 11 am. & 3.30 & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8 am. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Holy Trinity, Trinity street, Rev. Edward Armstone Ducket M.A. vicar; Rev. Walter Francis Hill B.A. & Rev. Alban Edmond Claxton B.A. curates; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 10 am. & 6 p.m.

St. George, Wilton, Rev. John Muston Bastard M.A. vicar; Rev. William Philip Southby M.A. curate; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8 a.m. except Fri. when it is held at 11 am. & 7.30 p.m.

St. Andrew, Rowbarton, Rev. George Ruck M.A. vicar; Rev. George Herbert Bown M.A. curate; 8 & 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8 am. & 7 p.m.; Wed. & Fri. 7.30 am.

St. George’s Catholic Church, Billet street, Very Rev. Canon Daniel Iles L.D. priest; mass, 8 & 10.30 am.; vespers, instruction & benediction, 6.30 p.m.; holy days of obligation mass, 7.30 & g am.; benediction, 8 am.; daily mass, 8.30 am.

Baptist (Albemarle), Rev. Levi Palmer; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Baptist, Silver street, Rev. John P. Tetley; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.15 p.m.

Bible Christian (Ebenezer), Rev. Henry Down, Magdalene street; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Brethren (Octagon), Middle street; ministers various; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 8 p.m. Bible reading.

Congregational, North street, Rev. Edwin Tongue; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.15 p.m.

Congregational (Paul’s Meeting House), Paul street; Rev. Samuel Wilkinson; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Rowbarton (Congregational), Rev. Walter Page Hogben; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Gloucester Mission Chapel, Gloucester street, East reach; ministers various; Sun. 11.3 & 6.30 p.m.

Society of Friends’ Meeting House, Bath place; 11 am. & 6.30 p.m.

Unitarian, Mary street, Rev. Jeffery Worthington B.A.; 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

SCHOOLS & COLLEGES

The Kings College, South road, in the southern suburb of the town & looking out on Blackdown hills, is one of the schools founded by Canon Woodard in connection with St. Nicolas College, Lancing, Sussex, its aim being to supply a good Public School education, on sound Church of England principles, at a very moderate cost, & was opened & dedicated in the name of King Alfred, with a public ceremonial & service, October 26, 1880: the buildings, constructed of red Monkton stone, comprise a temporary chapel, dining hall, school room, class rooms, studies, dormitories & other requisites for a large public school & are surrounded by grounds of about 20 acres; in 1901 an additional wing was added at a cost of £3,500, containing a dormitory for 30 boys & a large library & other rooms; Rev, Edward Boswell Vincent M.A. headmaster.

Taunton School, Staplegrove (established in 1847 as the Independent College), was for 23 years carried on in premise's in the Bishops Hull road, under the name of the West of England Dissenters’ Proprietary School. The present building, opened in 1870, is an edifice of grey stone from the West Leigh quarries, with Bath stone facings, in the Tudor Gothic style, from designs by Mr. T. James, of London, & was erected at a cost, including site, of more than £20,000: it consists of two wings, one of which is occupied by the school room & the other by the dining-room; in the centre is a tower 106 feet high, with clock & an illuminated dial.

Queen’s (Wesleyan) College, Trull road, established in 1843 & re-organized & re-named in 1888: the modern department includes instruction in all subjects necessary for a commercial career.

Huish Grammar School, East street: this foundation, formerly applied, under the will of Richard Huish of Taunton, to the maintenance of schools for both sexes, is now, by a scheme of the Charity Commissioners, approved Feb. 8, 1890, applicable, so far as the school branch is concerned, to the education of boys only: a yearly sum of £6 is applied in maintaining an exhibition tenable at the school, in addition to such exhibitions as are maintained under clauses 72 & 73 of the principal scheme, & a yearly sum of £60 is provided in maintaining two exhibitions of £30 each.

Bishop Fox’s (late Huish’s) (girls), Masonic hall; this school, formerly a part of the Huish foundation, is now carried on under a new scheme, approved by the Charity Commissioners, Feb. 8, 1890, by which the ancient Free Grammar School foundation of Richd. Fox, bishop of Bath & Wells, together with the endowment of William Walbee for the schoolmaster, & a yearly sum of £100 hitherto paid from the Taunton Town Charity to the governors of Huish’s girls’ school, are consolidated into one foundation to be called “Bishop Fox’s Girls’ School,” with a governing body of 13 persons, of whom 2 are ex-officio, 6 representative & 4 co-optative.

School of Art, Victoria rooms; Howard Maynard esq. hon. sec.

Taunton Central, Church square, established in 1809, rebuilt & enlarged in 1866, for 220 boys, 135 girls & 184 infants; average attendance, 180 boys, 115 girls & 145 infants.

St. John’s School (mixed), Tangier, for 200 children; average attendance, 135.

Holy Trinity (mixed & infants), Trinity street, built in 1842, for 320 children; an infants’ school for 165 children was added in 1899; average attendance, 220 boys & girls & 165 infants.

St. James’s (mixed & infants), St. James’ street, erected in 1828 & enlarged in 1875; average attendance, 164 boys & girls & 148 infants.

National, Rowbarton (boys, girls & infants), for 750 children; average attendance, 186 boys, 162 girls & 210 infants.

British (mixed & infants), Albemarle road, built in 1879, for 250 children; average attendance, 245.

British (original infants), Mary street, built in 1828, for 200 children; average attendance, 82.

British (boys, girls & infants), South street, built in 1892, for 192 boys & 192 girls; average attendance, 190 boys & girls & 160 infants.

Memorial School (mixed & infants), Mary street, built in 1886, at a cost, including the site, of £4,000, by the Rev. J. Collins Odgers B.A. as a memorial to his wife & her family, who were natives of Taunton; for 300 children; average attendance, 200.

Wilton (mixed), for 120 children; average attendance, 70.

Wesleyan (Temple), Upper High street (mixed), built in 1868, for 286 children; average attendance, 180.

St. George’s Catholic (boys), erected in 1870, for 100 boys; average attendance, 36; (girls) Billet street, erected in 1870, for 100 girls; average attendance, 34.