Visit Taunton Places

Welcome to Visit Taunton Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Taunton

  

Taunton Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Taunton

---

Taunton history

---

Cambria Farm, now hosts a park and ride close to the M5 motorway Junction 25, was the site of Bronze and Iron Age settlement and a Roman farm. 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. The town name derives from “Town on the River Tone or Tone Town”

Regeneration

Taunton was rated ‘strategically important’ in the government’s Regional Spatial Strategy. Somerset County Council is promoting sustainable, high-quality, employment-led mixed-use development to attract 3,000 new jobs and 500 new homes. In 2006, the council revealed plans dubbed ‘Project Taunon’ This would see regeneration of the areas of Firepool, Tangier, the retail town centre, the cultural quarter, and River Tone.

Taunton culture & places

The Brewhouse Theatre closed in February 2013 due to financial difficulties. Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre is a professional theatre based at Heathfield Community School. Several concerts a year are held at Taunton’s largest church, St Mary Magdalene.

Cultural references

Taunton is mentioned in The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré and Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop. It also appears in So Long and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams, part of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series.

Taunton landmarks

St Margaret’s Almshouses was founded as a leper colony in the 12th century. Glastonbury Abbey acquired patronage of it in the late 13th century and rebuilt it as almshouses in the early 16th. From 1612 to 1938 the building continued as such, cared for by a local parish. In the late 1930s it was converted into a hall of offices for the Rural Community Council and accommodation for the Somerset Guild of Craftsmen. The Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust with Falcon Rural Housing purchased it for use as four units of social housing.

Shopping

Hankridge Farm, a retail park close to the M5 motorway, has stores that include Currys PC World, Oak Furniture Land, Hobbycraft, Halfords, B&Q, The Range and the town’s second Sainsbury’s. County Walk is a small indoor shopping arcade in the town centre with an anchor supermarket. Priory Fields in Priory Avenue has eight units and an anchor store, Wickes.

Public parks

Vivary Park is on land that was once a medieval fish farm or vivarium for Taunton Priory. Goodlands Gardens, in the centre of the town, is behind Debenhams and The Castle Hotel.

The Pride Rainbow Path

The Pride Rainbow Path is believed to be the first such path in the UK. It opened on 28 June 2021 to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The path has been designed not to require maintenance for 15 years.

Taunton geography / climate

Taunton lies on the River Tone between the Quantock, Blackdown and Brendon hills. It is 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Bristol, 28 miles (45 km) north-east of Exeter, 63 miles (102 km) of Plymouth and 40 miles (64 km) of Weymouth.

Geology

Rocks of Triassic age (248–204 million years ago) underlie much of Somerset’s moors and levels. The Taunton area has Permian red sandstones and breccia outcrop 295–250 million years old.

Nature reserves

South Taunton Streams is an urban wetland. Weirfield Riverside has alder and willow woodland, bramble, scrub and rough grassland. Silk Mills Park and Ride offer landscaping and ponds in three areas by the Tone.

Climate

Taunton has a temperate climate, wetter and milder than the rest of England. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50.0 °F) Average rainfall is about 700 mm (28 in) Some 8–15 days of snowfall are typical.

You can visit Taunton places with Walkfo Taunton to hear history at Taunton’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Taunton has 61 places to visit in our interactive Taunton map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Taunton, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Taunton places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Taunton & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 61 audio facts unique to Taunton places in an interactive Taunton map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Taunton Places Map
61 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

---

–

Taunton historic spots	Taunton tourist destinations	Taunton plaques	Taunton geographic features
Walkfo Taunton tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Taunton

  

Best Taunton places to visit

---

Taunton has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Taunton’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Taunton’s information audio spots:

Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Lisieux, Taunton The Roman Catholic Church of St Teresa of Lisieux in Taunton, Somerset, dates from 1958–1959. It is the only known church design of Eric Francis, a Chepstow-born architect. St Teresa’s is a functioning parish church within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton.

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

Somerset Military Museum The Somerset Military Museum covers Somerset’s military history from 1685 onwards. It is a registered and accredited museum with the British Museums, Libraries, and Archives Council.

Gray’s Almshouses Gray’s Almshouses is a terrace of almshouses in Taunton, Somerset, England, founded in 1635 by the wealthy cloth-merchant Robert Gray. It is one of the earliest brick buildings in the county and is a Grade I listed building.

St Andrew’s Church, Taunton St Andrew’s Church is a Church of England church in Taunton, Somerset. Designed by J. Houghton Spencer, it was built in 1880–81 and has been a Grade II listed building since 2016.

St George’s Roman Catholic Church, Taunton The Church of St George is a Roman Catholic church in Taunton, Somerset, which dates from the mid-19th century. It was the second Catholic church to be built in the town after the Reformation. The main church building is designated by Historic England as a Grade II* listed building, while the rectory is Grade II listed.

Tudor Tavern, Taunton Tudor Tavern at No 15 Fore Street, Taunton, Somerset, has been designated as a Grade I listed building. Built in 1578, the house is three storeys high of a timber-frame construction with jettied first and second floors.

Taunton Unitarian Chapel Taunton Unitarian Chapel was built in the early 18th century as a Baptist chapel. The exterior was extensively renovated in the 19th century in an Italianate style. The chapel has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.

Taunton bus station Taunton bus station was opened by the Western National Omnibus Company in 1953 and closed in 2020. In 2015 the Transport Trust awarded the station a Red Wheel plaque for its historic value.

Jellalabad Barracks, Taunton Jellalabad Barracks was a military installation in Taunton, England. It was built in the 1930s and was located on the outskirts of the city.

Visit Taunton plaques