TAUNTON, a municipal borough and market town of Somer setshire, England, on the river Tone, 444 m. S.W. of Bristol by rail, on the G.W.R. Pop. (1931) 25,177. Standing in the valley of Taunton Dean, the town is chiefly built on the south side of the river. Taunton is the county town of Somerset.
There is evidence of an early settlement near the suburb of Holway, and Taunton (Tantun, Tantone, Tauntone) was a place of considerable importance in Saxon times. King Ine erected an earthen castle here about 700, and 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, governed by a portreeve ap pointed by the bishops. Two members were returned to parlia
ment from 1299 to 1885. The Saturday market dates from before the Conquest.
Its main streets converge upon a triangular space, where there is a market cross. The parish church of St. Mary Magdalene is a fine Perpendicular building. Remnants of Norman work are pre served in the chancel arch, and of Early English work in the north aisles and transepts. The tower is also a notable feature. Little is left of an Austin priory established in the reign of Henry I. by William Giffard, bishop of Winchester, who also built the castle, now a museum for prehistoric, Roman and medieval antiquities. At the Restoration it was dismantled and its moat filled in. Among the schools is a grammar school founded in 1522 by Richard Fox, bishop of Winchester.