Taunton Rural District

Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the Bishops of Winchester. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. For the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, Perkin Warbeck brought an army of 6,000; most surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497. On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England here in a rebellion, defeated at the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys led the Bloody Assizes in the Castle's Great Hall. The Grand Western Canal reached Taunton in 1839 and the Bristol and Exeter Railway in 1842. Today it hosts Musgrove Park Hospital, Somerset County Cricket Club, is the base of 40 Commando, Royal Marines, and is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office on Admiralty Way. The popular Taunton flower show has been held in Vivary Park since 1866, and on 13 March 2022, St Mary Magdalene parish church was elevated to the status of Taunton Minster.

The sieges of Taunton were a series of three blockades during the First English Civil War. The town of Taunton, in Somerset, was considered to be of strategic importance because it controlled the main road from Bristol to Devon and Cornwall. Robert Blake commanded the town's Parliamentarian defences during all three sieges, from September 1644 to July 1645. The first siege was laid by Edmund Wyndham on 23 September, and was primarily composed of Royalist troops from local Somerset garrisons. After initial assaults drove Blake and his troops back into Taunton Castle, the blockade was conducted from 1–2 miles (1.6–3.2 km) away, and concentrated more on starving the garrison than continued attacks. The town was relieved by a force under James Holborne on 14 December. Over the next three months, Blake was able to establish a network of earthen defences in Taunton, including a basic perimeter and several forts. The Royalists began the second, and bloodiest, siege in late March 1645, initially under Sir Richard Grenville. A series of disputes between the Royalist commanders allowed Taunton some respite at the start of the siege, but in May the attacks were fierce under the command of Sir Ralph Hopton. After five days of intense fighting, which had once again driven the defending army back to a small central perimeter including the castle, the Royalists retreated in the face of a Parliamentarian relief army commanded by Ralph Weldon. Lord Goring, who had proposed the second siege, renewed the blockade for a third time in mid-May, after engaging Weldon's departing army and forcing it back into Taunton. Goring's siege was lax and allowed provisions into the town, diminishing its effectiveness. The Parliamentarian defence tied up Goring and his 10–15,000 troops, who would have otherwise been available to fight for King Charles at Naseby, where historians believe they could have tipped the battle in favour of the Royalists. Instead, after securing a Parliamentarian victory at Naseby, Thomas Fairfax marched his army to relieve Taunton on 9 July 1645.

The Somerset Military Museum is part of the Museum of Somerset located in the 12th century great hall of Taunton Castle, in Taunton, Somerset. It is a "registered and accredited museum" with the British Museums, Libraries, and Archives Council, and is a part of the Museum of Somerset. The museum covers Somerset's military history from 1685 onward. It received a £10,000 grant from the Somerset Military Museum Trust for the restoration project.

The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground, and nicknamed Ciderabad, is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there since 1882. The ground, which is located between Priory Bridge Road and St James Street, has a capacity of 8,500. The ground was originally built as part of a sports centre by Taunton Athletic Club in 1881, and became the home of the previously nomadic Somerset County Cricket Club soon after. Having leased the ground for ten years, the club bought the ground in 1896, under the guidance of club secretary Henry Murray-Anderdon. The ground ends are the River End to the north and the Somerset Pavilion End to the south. Somerset played their first match of first-class cricket on the ground over 8–10 August 1882, beating Hampshire County Cricket Club by five wickets. Later in the same month, the touring Australia national cricket team played a match against Somerset, becoming the first international side to play at the ground. The first international cricket to be played on the ground was in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, for a group-stage match between England and Sri Lanka. The ground also hosted two group-stage matches during the 1999 Cricket World Cup and venue for the tournament in 2019. Since 1997, women's international cricket has been played at the ground, and in 2006 it became the home of the England women's cricket team. The ground saw (men's) international cricket in 2017, with a Twenty20 International (T20I) tie between England and South Africa.

Somerset Cricket Museum in Taunton, Somerset, England, is a small museum housing exhibits on the history of cricket with a particular emphasis on the history of Somerset County Cricket Club.

The Church of St James is a Church of England parish church in Taunton, Somerset, England. It dates from the early 14th century, although an earlier church, associated with Taunton Priory, was located on the same site in the 10th century. The church is dedicated to St. James the Greater. It is a Grade II* listed building.The church backs onto the Somerset County Ground and forms a familiar backdrop to the Cricket ground. The waggon roof above the nave and north aisle is medieval. The south aisle and the south porch were rebuilt between 1836 and 1837, with the 111 feet (34 m) west tower following in the 1870s and the chancel being rebuilt in 1884. The font dates from the 15th century and the pulpit from 1633. There are fragments of 15th century stained glass in the West end. Other stained glass is from Clayton and Bell in the 19th century.The iron railings around the churchyard are from the early 19th century.The parish is part of Diocese of Bath and Wells.

Taunton Priory, or the Priory of St Peter and St Paul, was an Augustinian house of canons founded c. 1115 by William Gyffarde (also called William Giffard), Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England near Taunton, Somerset, England.

Taunton Brewhouse (previously The Brewhouse) is the largest theatre and arts centre in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England. The building opened on 28 March 1977, on the banks of the River Tone, and offers a purpose-built 352-seat auditorium, a supporting 60-seat versatile studio space for performances, classes and conferences, and an exhibition space. It hosts a programme of live professional and amateur theatre productions; live folk, rock, and pop music; comedians; popular and independent cinema; live broadcasts from major international venues, such as London's National Theatre and The Royal Opera House; and visual arts exhibitions. Its first professional production was Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, starring the then unknown David Jason.

Taunton Minster (St Mary Magdalene church) is a Church of England parish minster church in Taunton, Somerset, England, dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It was completed in 1508 and is in the Early Tudor Perpendicular Gothic style. It is designated as a Grade I listed building. It is notable for its very tall tower.

Hammet Street is a street in Taunton, Somerset, England, that runs between the Church of St Mary Magdalene and the town centre. It is named after Sir Benjamin Hammet, who had a bill passed through parliament to allow him to build the street in 1788. The street includes four listed buildings: numbers 4 and 5–8, 9–12, 13–17, and number 18 with 33 Fore Street. The first three buildings are grade II* listed, while the last is grade II listed, and together with the Church of St Mary Magdalene and the listed buildings in Church Square, the English Heritage consider them to "form an extremely important group."

Gray's Almshouses is a terrace of almshouses in Taunton, Somerset, England, founded in 1635 by the wealthy cloth-merchant Robert Gray, whose monument survives in the Church of St Mary Magdalene. The building is one of the oldest surviving in Taunton and is one of the earliest brick buildings in the county. The Almshouses were designed to provide accommodation for six men and ten women and for a reader who was to act as chaplain and schoolmaster. It is a Grade I listed building as designated by English Heritage. Following renovation in the late twentieth century it now comprises sheltered accommodation of nine flats for the elderly.

Taunton railway station is a junction station on the route from London to Penzance, 143 miles (230 km) west of London Paddington station. It is situated in Taunton, Somerset, and is operated by Great Western Railway. The station is also served by CrossCountry trains and by the West Somerset Railway on special event days and by mainline steam excursions.