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105-511: Taunton ( / ˈ t ɔː n t ən / ) is the county town of Somerset , England. It is a market town and has a minster church . Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation , owned by the Bishops of Winchester , which was rebuilt as Taunton Castle by the Normans in the 12th century. Parts of the inner ward house were turned into

210-455: A Mayor and Deputy Mayor. The first elections to the new parish council were held on 4 May 2023 with 19 Liberal Democrat councillors and one Conservative councillor being elected to represent 14 wards. The council is expected to formally resolve to adopt the style of a Town Council at its first meeting. Taunton was the main settlement and centre of the local government district of Taunton Deane . The district, formed on 1 April 1974 under

315-559: A three hinged arch design, it cost £25,000 and was designed by Sir John Wolfe Barry . Also in 1905, electric trams replaced the horse trams with a new route which passed along the High Street, down Fore Street and over the new Exe Bridge. Once across the Exe the line divided, with one route along Alphington Road and another along Cowick Street. The line to St David's Station travelled along Queen Street instead of along New North Road and

420-514: A 19% increase from 2019. In 2014, Exeter had "...the unenviable status of having the highest per capita rate of rough sleeping outside of London". During the COVID-19 pandemic, 102 people in Exeter rough sleeping, or at risk of rough sleeping were accommodated as part of the government's 'Everybody In' directive. In Exeter City Council's recent 'Rough Sleeping Delivery Plan', a total of £3,351,347

525-478: A brownfield area between Bridgwater and Taunton College and the bus station, the project proposed to build small offices and more riverside housing. The "Cultural Quarter" is the area along the river between Firepool and Tangier. The plans are to extend riverside retail and attract smaller, boutique businesses such as those found at Riverside. Plans for the town centre include more pedestrianisation and greater sizes and numbers of retail units. Several sites along

630-516: A county town is ill-defined and unofficial. Some counties in Great Britain have their administrative bodies housed elsewhere. For example, Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire , but the county council is in Preston . Due to the creation of unitary authorities , some county towns in Great Britain are administratively separate from the county. For example, Nottingham is separated from

735-607: A nature reserve along the River Tone , has alder and willow woodland, bramble, scrub and rough grassland. The wetter, flood-prone areas feature hemlock water-dropwort , and yellow flag . Silk Mills Park and Ride offer landscaping and ponds in three areas by the Tone. The woodland and grassland support aquatic and marginal vegetation, with various birds, bats, reptiles and invertebrates . Frieze Hill Community Orchard has turned from allotments to rough grassland and orchard . Among

840-465: 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 . There is a Venue in the park with restaurants, an Odeon cinema and a Hollywood Bowl bowling alley. It is now known as Riverside Retail Park. Taunton has three other such parks. Belvedere is near the town centre. St Johns

945-528: A single unitary authority called Somerset Council with elections for the new authority's 110 councillors (two per electoral division) having taken place on 5 May 2022. Taunton and Wellington is a county constituency of the House of Commons . It is based on the town, but extends to Wellington . The current MP is Gideon Amos of the Liberal Democrats . Taunton lies on the River Tone between

1050-593: A spur overlooking a navigable river teeming with fish, with fertile land nearby. Although there have been no major prehistoric finds, these advantages suggest the site was occupied early. Coins have been discovered from the Hellenistic kingdoms , suggesting the existence of a settlement trading with the Mediterranean as early as 250 BC . Such early towns had been a feature of pre-Roman Gaul as described by Julius Caesar in his Commentaries and it

1155-451: A three-month siege, not when the three wells in the castle ran dry, but only after the exhaustion of the large supplies of wine that the garrison was using for drinking, baking, cooking, and putting out fires set by the besiegers. During the siege, King Stephen built an earthen fortification at the site now known (erroneously) as Danes Castle. The city held a weekly market for the benefit of its citizens from at least 1213, and by 1281 Exeter

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1260-649: Is a Grade II* listed building. The grounds of Taunton Castle include the Somerset County Museum and The Castle Hotel , which incorporates the Castle Bow archway. With the municipal buildings they form a three-sided group just beyond the Castle Bow archway from Fore Street. A plain brick Mecca Bingo hall fills the west side of it. The frontage of the Fore Street Tudor Tavern , now a Caffè Nero branch, dates from 1578, but

1365-532: Is also famed for cider . Gray's Almshouses in East Street, founded by Robert Gray in 1615 for poor single women, are red brick buildings bearing the arms of Robert Gray, dated 1635, and another arms of the Merchant Tailors. A small room used as a chapel has original benches and a painted ceiling. It has been classed by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building . St Margaret's Almshouses

1470-406: Is due to begin in the summer of 2023. On 27 February 2021 a 2,200 lb (1,000 kg) Second World War bomb was uncovered at a construction site and more than 2,600 people were evacuated. Bomb Disposal squads used approximately 400 tons of sand to secure it. It was safely detonated at 18:12. By 1 March hundreds of the evacuees were unable to return to their properties, due to damage caused by

1575-515: Is in two parliamentary constituencies, the majority of the city is in the Exeter constituency but two wards (St Loyes and Topsham) are in East Devon . Since World War II until recently, Exeter itself was relatively marginal, with its Member of Parliament usually drawn from the governing party. Nowadays the Exeter seat is increasingly becoming a Labour stronghold. The Exeter MP is Steve Race , with

1680-613: Is just off Toneway, towards the motorway, and consists of two units, occupied by DFS , joined by Go Outdoors in April 2014. Taunton's second largest retail park is Priory Fields in Priory Avenue, with eight units and an anchor store, Wickes . It was redeveloped in 2003 to modernise a rather worn-out retail park and increase retail floor space. The Old Market was a farmers' market in the Parade in front of Market House, but then moved to

1785-572: Is located on Admiralty Way and has a workforce of about 1100. At the start of the Second World War, chart printing moved to Taunton, but the main office did not follow until 1968. Taunton holds the head offices of Western Provident Association, Viridor and CANDAC. Other professional services are based at Blackbrook near the motorway junction. The first store of the multinational New Look clothing retailer opened in Taunton in 1969. Taunton

1890-515: Is possible that they existed in Britannia as well. The unreliable source Geoffrey of Monmouth stated that when Vespasian besieged the city in 49 AD its Celtic name was Kaerpenhuelgoit , meaning 'town on the hill under the high wood'. The Romans established a 42-acre (17 ha) 'playing-card' shaped (rectangle with round corners and two short and two long sides) fort ( Latin : castrum ) named Isca around AD 55. The fort

1995-616: The 2010 general election the new coalition government announced in May 2010 that the reorganisation would be blocked. From Saxon times, it was in the hundred of Wonford . Exeter has had a mayor since at least 1207 and until 2002, the city was the oldest 'Right Worshipful' Mayoralty in England. As part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II Exeter was chosen to receive the title of Lord Mayor . Councillor Granville Baldwin became

2100-744: The Battle of Tewkesbury . In the Second Cornish uprising of 1497 most 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. When Warbeck heard that the King's scouts were at Glastonbury he panicked and deserted his army. On 4 October 1497, Henry VII reached Taunton, where he received

2205-622: The Bridgwater and Taunton Canal formed part of the Taunton Stop Line , set to curb any advance of a German invasion. Pillboxes can still be seen along its length. A fire aboard a Penzance to London sleeping car train approaching Taunton in 1978 killed 12 passengers and injured 15 others. Taunton was rated "strategically important" in the government's Regional Spatial Strategy, allowing Somerset County Council to receive funding for large-scale regeneration projects. In 2006,

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2310-658: 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 town name derives from "Town on

2415-618: The Cair Pensa vel Coyt , listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons , as Isca, although David Nash Ford read it as a reference to Penselwood and thought it more likely to be Lindinis (modern Ilchester ). Nothing is certainly known of Exeter from the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain around the year 410 until the seventh century. By that time,

2520-477: The Cathedral Close and the High Street was redeveloped between 2005 and 2007, despite some local opposition. It incorporates 123 varied residential units. To enable people with limited mobility to enjoy the city, Exeter Community Transport Association provides manual and powered wheelchairs and scooters ('Shopmobility') for use by anyone suffering from short- or long-term mobility impairment to access

2625-635: The Devon County Council . In May 2012 Labour became the majority party on the council. Exeter City Council 's bid for the city to become a Unitary Authority was initially approved by ministers in February 2010. A judicial review was called by Devon County Council and the Court held that the Minister had acted unlawfully in granting Unitary status to Exeter at the same time, however, following

2730-453: The Dumnonii and was listed as one of their four cities ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : poleis ) by Ptolemy in his Geography (it also appeared in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography , where it appears as an apparently confused entry for Scadu Namorum ). When the fortress was abandoned around the year 75, its grounds were converted to civilian purposes: its very large bathhouse

2835-437: The Dumnonii ", and Caerleon as Isca Augusta. A small fort was also maintained at Topsham ; a supply depot on the route between the two was excavated at St Loyes near Topsham Road in 2010. The presence of the fort built up an unplanned civilian community ( vicus or canabae ) of natives and the soldiers' families, mostly to the northeast of the fort. This settlement served as the tribal capital ( civitas ) of

2940-694: The Great Western Railway for transportation of meat products to London. The first electricity in Exeter was provided by the Exeter Electric Light Company, which was formed at the end of the 1880s, but it was municipalised in 1896 and became the City of Exeter Electricity Company. In 1896 £88,000 was spent constructing sewerage system which reduced the risk of infectious diseases, The first horse-drawn trams in Exeter were introduced in 1882 with 3 lines radiating from

3045-835: The Local Government Act 1972 , by merging the municipal borough of Taunton, Wellington urban district , Taunton Rural District , and Wellington Rural District , was granted borough status in 1975, perpetuating the mayoralty of Taunton. The district was named as an alternate form of the Taunton hundred . Taunton Deane Council, once based at the Municipal Buildings in Corporation Street, moved to modern facilities at Deane House on Belvedere Road in spring 1987. Taunton Deane merged with West Somerset to form Somerset West and Taunton in 2019, and

3150-545: The Monmouth Rebellion . In the autumn of that year Judge Jeffreys lived in the town during the Bloody Assizes that followed the Battle of Sedgemoor . The town lacked a charter of incorporation until 1627. This was renewed in 1677, but lapsed in 1792 due to vacancies in the corporate body, and was not reincorporated until 1877. The medieval fairs and markets (a weekly market remains) were celebrated for

3255-607: 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 in Taunton the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England 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

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3360-703: The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 . South Taunton Streams is an urban wetland. The northern suburbs include the Children's Wood riverside reserve, a movement corridor for animals such as otters along the banks of the Tone. Birds include the kingfisher , dipper , grey wagtail , mute swan , grey heron and reed warbler and butterflies the small and large skipper , marbled white , small heath and small copper , along with dragonflies and damselflies . Weirfield Riverside,

3465-791: The Quantock , Blackdown and Brendon hills. The area is known as the Vale of Taunton. It is surrounded by many other large towns and cities seen on this directional compass: Taunton is 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Bristol , 28 miles (45 km) north-east of Exeter , 63 miles (101 km) north-east of Plymouth and 40 miles (64 km) north-west of Weymouth . The Taunton area has Permian red sandstones and breccia outcrop 295–250   million years old. Rocks of Triassic age (248–204   million years ago) underlie much of Somerset's moors and levels. The several local nature reserves in and around Taunton are protected under Section 21 of

3570-603: The River Tone " or Tone Town. Cambria Farm , which 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. There was a Romano-British village near the suburb of Holway . Taunton was important in Anglo-Saxon times as a burh with a mint . King Ine of Wessex threw up an earthen castle about 700, but it was levelled in 722 by his queen, Æthelburg of Wessex , to prevent seizure by rebels. A monastery

3675-419: The unitary authority of Somerset Council . A large part of the town was unparished from the 1974 local government reorganisation until 1 April 2023, when a new Parish Council came into being following a Community Governance Review held by Somerset West and Taunton Council. While the town was unparished, Charter Trustees made up of the district councillors representing wards in the unparished area elected

3780-606: The 'Lwów Eagle Owls', who were based at Exeter Airport . The city of Lwów shared the same motto as the city of Exeter – 'Semper Fidelis' (Always faithful). In April and May 1942, as part of the Baedeker Blitz and specifically in response to the RAF bombing of Lübeck and Rostock , 40 acres (16 hectares) of the city were leveled by incendiary bombing. Many historic buildings in the center—particularly adjacent to High Street and Sidwell Street—were destroyed, and others, including

3885-649: The British simply moved to what is now the St David's area, not far outside Exeter's walls. The quarter vacated by the Britons was apparently adapted as "the earl 's burh" and was still named Irlesberi in the 12th century. In 1001, the Danes again failed to get into the city, but they were able to plunder it in 1003 because they were let in, for unknown reasons, by the French reeve of Emma of Normandy , who had been given

3990-488: The City Quay ". In 1778 a new bridge across the Exe was opened to replace the old medieval bridge. Built at a cost of £30,000, it had three arches and was built of stone. In 1832, cholera , which had been erupting all across Europe, reached Exeter. The only known documentation of this event was written by Dr Thomas Shapter , one of the medical doctors present during the epidemic. The first railway to arrive in Exeter

4095-536: The Common Council come from the same elite of wealthy citizens, as did the major and the stewards and this concern introduced a second conflict of interests in the government organism of the city. In 1537, the city was made a county corporate . In 1549, the city successfully withstood a month-long siege by the so-called Prayer Book rebels : Devon and Cornish folk who had been infuriated by the radical religious policies of King Edward VI. The insurgents occupied

4200-643: The Exeter canal. The city's motto, Semper fidelis , is traditionally held to have been suggested by Elizabeth I , in acknowledgement of the city's contribution of ships to help defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588; however its first documented use is in 1660. Schools in Exeter teach that the motto was bestowed by Charles II in 1660 at the Restoration due to Exeter's role in the English Civil War . When in 1638 Reverend John Wheelwright

4305-753: The Firepool area, although cattle trading on the site ceased only in 2008. A large indoor shopping centre to the east of the Parade covers a site that was once a pig market. Although its official name is now Orchard, and before that the Old Market Centre, locals still call it the Pig Market; one existed there from 1614 to 1882. County Walk is a small indoor shopping arcade in the town centre with an anchor supermarket, Sainsbury's , and several other large national retailers such as Subway , Costa Coffee , and Savers . County town The concept of

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4410-572: The Medieval England. The first detailed and continuous evidence of its existence and activity was founded after 1345. Formed by twelve "better and more discreet men" (in Latin : duodecim meliores ), reelected each year, it was originally designed to control the abuse of the Major and of his four stewards , which respectively presided over the borough court and the provost court. The members of

4515-615: The River Tone are set for renovation. Firepool Weir lock, long silted up, was to be dredged in 2011 to allow boats to pass from the navigable section of the Tone through Taunton to the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal . Goodland Gardens received a makeover and a new café, The Shed, opened. Projects to develop Somerset Square (a paved area next to the Brewhouse Theatre ) and Longrun Meadow (a country park near Bridgwater & Taunton College) have been put forward. Traffic congestion

4620-605: The Youth MP being Georgia Howell, and Simon Jupp represents East Devon. Prior to Brexit in 2020, Exeter was part of the South West England European constituency , which elected 6 MEPs . Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies , Exmouth and Exeter East will first be contested at the 2024 general election . Exeter's city council is a district authority, and shares responsibility for local government with

4725-421: The ancient counties and county towns were restored. (Note: not all headquarters are or were called County Halls or Shire Halls e.g.: Cumbria County Council's HQ up until 2016 was called The Courts and has since moved to Cumbria House.) Before 1974, many of the county halls were in towns and cities that had the status of a county borough i.e. a borough outside the county council's jurisdiction. The follow lists

4830-524: The apples grown are Kingston Black and Yarlington Mill . Like most of South West England , Taunton has a temperate climate, wetter and milder than the rest of the country. The annual mean temperature is about 10 °C (50.0 °F). Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme because of the adjacent sea. The summer months of July and August have mean daily maxima of about 21 °C (69.8 °F). In winter, mean minimum temperatures of 1 °C (33.8 °F) or 2 °C (35.6 °F) are common. In

4935-452: The cathedral, were damaged. On the night of 4 May, the Polish 307 Squadron dispatched four available aircraft against forty German Junkers Ju 88 bombers, preventing four German aircraft from releasing their load of bombs on Exeter. 156 people were killed, but the squadron suffered no casualties in the process. To commemorate the friendship that had formed between the 307 Squadron and Exeter,

5040-583: The centre of Norman power within the new county (Caernarfonshire named for Caernarfon, Monmouthshire named for Monmouth) others were named after the previous medieval Welsh kingdoms (Ceredigon becomes Cardigan, Morgannwg becomes Glamorgan). The 1535 Laws in Wales Act established the historic counties in English law , but in Wales they were later replaced with eight preserved counties for ceremonial purposes and

5145-423: The citizens enjoyed access to sophisticated aqueduct systems which brought pure drinking water into the city from springs in the neighbouring parish of St Sidwell's. For part of their length, these aqueducts were conveyed through a remarkable network of tunnels, or underground passages, which survive largely intact and which may still be visited today. Exeter and Bristol hosted the first recorded Common Council in

5250-698: The city unitary authority status was scrapped by the 2010 coalition government . The modern name of Exeter is a development of the Old English Escanceaster , from the anglicised form of the river now known as the Exe and the Old English suffix -ceaster (as in Dorchester and Gloucester ), used to mark important fortresses or fortified towns (from Latin castrum , meaning fortress, or castra , military camp). (Similarly,

5355-601: The city as part of her dowry on her marriage to Æthelred the Unready the previous year. Two years after the Norman conquest of England , Exeter rebelled against King William . Gytha Thorkelsdóttir , the mother of the slain King Harold , was living in the city at the time, and William promptly marched west and initiated a siege . After 18 days, William accepted the city's honourable surrender, swearing an oath not to harm

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5460-449: The city centre shopping facilities, events and meetings with friends. In May 2008 there was an attempted terrorist attack on the Giraffe cafe in Princesshay, but the bomber was the only one injured. On 12 October 2012, John Lewis opened its first high-street home store on Sidwell Street, with an area of 65,000 ft, it was the biggest John Lewis store to open that year. It took on 300 staff. A £30 million improvement scheme for

5565-447: The city centre was rebuilt and is now a centre for education, business and tourism in Devon and Cornwall. It is home to two of the constituent campuses of the University of Exeter : Streatham and St Luke's . The administrative area of Exeter has the status of a non-metropolitan district under the administration of the County Council. It is the county town of Devon and home to the headquarters of Devon County Council . A plan to grant

5670-415: The city centre were rebuilt in the 1950s, with little attempt to preserve or restore historic buildings. The street plan was altered in an attempt to improve traffic circulation, and former landmarks like St Lawrence, the College of the Vicars Choral, and Bedford circus disappeared. The modern architecture stands in sharp contrast to the red sandstone of buildings that survived the Blitz. One notable exception

5775-477: The city or increase its ancient tribute . However, William quickly arranged for the building of Rougemont Castle to strengthen Norman control over the area. Properties owned by Saxon landlords were transferred into Norman hands and, on the death of Bishop Leofric in 1072, the Norman Osbern FitzOsbern was appointed his successor. In 1136, early in the Anarchy , Rougemont Castle was held against King Stephen by Baldwin de Redvers . Redvers submitted only after

5880-429: The city was held by the Saxons , who had arrived in Exeter after defeating the British Dumnonians at Peonnum in Somerset in 658. It seems likely that the Saxons maintained a quarter of the city for the Britons under their own laws around present-day Bartholomew Street, which was known as "Britayne" Street until 1637 in memory of its former occupants. Exeter was known to the Saxons as Escanceaster . In 876, it

5985-411: The city's Cornish name Karesk and its Welsh name Caerwysg both mean " caer or fortress on the Exe".) The name "Exe" is a separate development of the Brittonic name—meaning "water" or, more exactly, "full of fish" (cf. Welsh pysg , pl. "fish") —that also appears in the English Axe and Esk and the Welsh Usk ( Wysg ). Exeter began as settlements on a dry ridge ending in

6090-436: The city's East Gate. One line went to St David's station via New North Road, the Obelisk (where the Clock Tower now stands) and St David's Hill. The second line went out along Heavitree Road to Livery Dole and the third went to Mount Pleasant along Sidwell Street. There was a depot off New North Road. A new bridge across the Exe was opened on 29 March 1905, replacing the former Georgian bridge. Made of cast iron and steel with

6195-502: The council revealed plans dubbed "Project Taunton". This would see regeneration of the areas of Firepool, Tangier, the retail town centre, the cultural quarter, and the River Tone, to sustain Taunton as business hub in the South West. The Firepool area, just north of the town centre by the main railway station, includes vacant or undeveloped land. The council is promoting sustainable, high-quality, employment-led mixed-use development to attract 3,000 new jobs and 500 new homes. In Tangier,

6300-417: The detonation of the bomb. On 2 March the council permitted affected residents to return to their homes while noting that many might be "uninhabitable at this stage". The University of Exeter reported that some 300 students (of the 1,400 evacuated) had yet to return. Exeter has the 6th highest number of rough sleepers on a single night of all local authorities in England (as of the autumn of 2020), marking

6405-475: The early 18th century. She remarked on the "vast trade" and "incredible quantity" in Exeter, recording that "it turns the most money in a week of anything in England", between £10,000 and £15,000. Early in the Industrial Revolution , Exeter's industry developed on the basis of locally available agricultural products and, since the city's location on a fast-flowing river gave it ready access to water power , an early industrial site developed on drained marshland to

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6510-406: The fire. In July 2017 the restoration plans were officially unveiled, with the rebuild expected to be completed in 18 months and a scheduled reopening of the hotel in 2019. 18 Cathedral Yard was repaired by November 2018, but there was a second round of bids for the work to complete repairs to The Well House, and to rebuild the Royal Clarence Hotel as a 74-bedroom hotel. However, in late 2021 it

6615-408: The first Lord Mayor of Exeter on 1 May 2002 when Letters Patent were awarded to the city during a visit by the Queen. The Lord Mayor is elected each year from amongst the 39 Exeter city councillors and is non-political for the term of office. Policing in Exeter is provided by the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary who have their headquarters at Middlemoor in the east of the city. The fire service

6720-430: The first half of the 4th century: more than a thousand Roman coins have been found around the city and there is evidence for copper and bronze working, a stock-yard, and markets for the livestock, crops, and pottery produced in the surrounding countryside. The dating of the coins so far discovered, however, suggests a rapid decline: virtually none have been discovered dated after the year 380. Bishop Ussher identified

6825-570: The flood defences was approved in March 2015. The plans involve the removal of check weirs and a deeper, "meandering stream" in the centre of the drainage channels to improve flow. The plans followed a study by the Environment Agency that revealed weaknesses in the current defences. A community currency for the city, the Exeter Pound , was introduced in 2015 and dissolved in 2018. A serious fire broke out in buildings in central Exeter on 28 October 2016. The Royal Clarence Hotel , 18 Cathedral Yard and The Well House Tavern were severely damaged in

6930-532: The larger borough of Taunton Deane, which includes the town of Wellington and surrounding villages. This had an estimated population of 109,883 in 2010. The figures here are for the Taunton Deane area. In 2011, Taunton built-up area had a population of 60,479 and the surrounding borough of Taunton Deane one of 110,187. Of Taunton's residents 91.6 per cent were White British in 2011, compared with 93.4 per cent for Taunton Deane. Taunton's ethnic mix resembles that of South West England – 91.8 per cent White British in

7035-459: The late 13th century, but declined; the county-town status passed to Taunton about 1366. Between 1209 and 1311 the Bishop of Winchester's manor of Taunton expanded two-and-a-half times. The parishes of Staplegrove, Wilton and Taunton were part of Taunton Deane hundred . In 1451, during the Wars of the Roses , Taunton saw a skirmish between the Earl of Devon , and Baron Bonville . Queen Margaret and her troops passed through in 1471 to defeat at

7140-435: The late 2nd century, the ditch and rampart defences around the old fortress were replaced by a bank and wall enclosing a much larger area, some 92 acres (37 hectares). Although most of the visible structure is older, the course of the Roman wall was used for Exeter's subsequent city walls. Thus about 70% of the Roman wall remains, and most of its route can be traced on foot. The Devonian Isca seems to have been most prosperous in

7245-419: The line to Heavitree was extended. On 17 March 1917, a tram went out of control going down Fore Street, hit a horse-drawn wagon, then overturned on Exe Bridge; one female passenger was killed. By the 1920s there were problems with congestion caused by the trams, a need for expensive track renewal work and the slow speed of the trams in Exeter's narrow streets. After much discussion, the council decided to replace

7350-492: The lines of the British county court system, with each county having a county town. The counties have no current administrative relevance. Exeter Exeter ( / ˈ ɛ k s ɪ t ər / EK -sit-ər ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Devon , South West England . It is situated on the River Exe , approximately 36 mi (58 km) northeast of Plymouth and 65 mi (105 km) southwest of Bristol . In Roman Britain , Exeter

7455-474: The local firm Beach Bros were trapped for nine hours. 2,500 properties were flooded. Later the same year on 3 December the river levels rose again, flooding 1,200 properties. These floods led to the construction of new flood defences for Exeter. Work began in 1965, took 12 years to complete and cost £8 million. The defences included three flood relief channels , and were complemented by the construction of two new concrete bridges (built in 1969 and 1972) to replace

7560-461: The location of the administration of each of the 31 local authorities in the Republic of Ireland, with 26 of the traditional counties. Note – Despite the fact that Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, it is not the county town of any county. Greater Belfast straddles two counties – Antrim and Down. Jamaica's three counties were established in 1758 to facilitate the holding of courts along

7665-607: The neighbouring parishes of Bishop's Hull , Comeytrowe , Norton Fitzwarren , Staplegrove, Trull and West Monkton ) had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. Taunton includes Holway, once a village in its own right as one of the Five Hundreds of Taunton Deane , the Infaring division or district of three districts that made up Taunton Deane. Taunton is the largest town in the Somerset shire county and forms part of

7770-477: The old Exe Bridge which had obstructed the flow of the river and made the flooding worse. A high-profile, random murder of a child occurred in the city in 1997, which today remains one of the UK's highest-profile unsolved murders. 14-year-old Kate Bushell , a pupil at what is now West Exe School , had her throat cut by an unidentified attacker while walking her dog along Exwick Lane, Exwick, on 15 November 1997. Despite

7875-571: The police insisting the killer must be local and repeatedly appealing for locals to come forward with information on Crimewatch , the attacker has never been identified. Police believe Bushell's murder is possibly linked to the murder of dogwalker Lyn Bryant in Cornwall only one year later in 1998. Police have DNA evidence in the Bryant case and there remains a £10,000 reward for information in both cases. The Princesshay shopping centre adjoining

7980-581: The remaining Britons from the city. (It is uncertain, though, whether they had lived in the city continuously since the Roman period or returned from the countryside when Alfred strengthened its defences. ) According to William of Malmesbury , they were sent beyond the River Tamar , which was fixed as the boundary of Devon. (This may, however, have served as a territorial boundary within the former kingdom of Dumnonia as well. ) Other references suggest that

8085-615: The rest is thought to be from the 14th century. The riverside area north of the centre is edged by Morrisons supermarket, retirement housing and the Brewhouse Theatre . Towards the centre are the Zinc Nightclub, Bridge Street and Goodlands Gardens. A current regeneration programme north of Bridge Street will include redeveloping the County Cricket Ground , which hosted open-air concerts for Elton John in 2006 and 2012 and for Rod Stewart in 2014. Hankridge Farm,

8190-490: The rest of Nottinghamshire , and Brighton and Hove is separate from East Sussex . On a ceremonial level, both are in their own respective counties geographically. This list shows towns or cities which held county functions at various points in time. Following the Norman invasion of Wales , the Cambro-Normans created the historic shire system (also known as ancient counties). Many of these counties were named for

8295-487: The sale of woollen cloth called "Tauntons" made in the town. On the decline of the woollen industry in the west of England, silk-weaving was introduced at the end of the 18th century. In 1839 the Grand Western Canal reached Taunton, aiding southward trade, which was enhanced by the arrival of the railway in 1842. A permanent military presence came to Jellalabad Barracks in 1881. In the Second World War,

8400-559: The same year. It is also matches other major regional centres like Poole and Plymouth . The larger urban area, extending to Monkton Heathfield , Norton Fitzwarren and Bathpool, had a 2011 population of 64,621. Taunton Deane had low unemployment of 4.1 per cent compared with a national average of 5.0 per cent in 2005. Taunton is home to the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), a Ministry of Defence body responsible for providing navigational and other hydrographic information for national, civil and defence requirements. The UKHO

8505-604: The squadron presented the city with a Polish flag on 15 November 1942 (the first British city to have had that honour) outside Exeter Cathedral . Since 2012, a Polish flag is raised over the city's Guildhall on 15 November; the day is now known as '307 Squadron Day' in Exeter. On 15 November 2017, a plaque in memory of the squadron was unveiled in the St James Chapel of Exeter Cathedral by the Polish Ambassador Arkady Rzegocki. Large areas of

8610-479: The suburbs of Exeter, burnt down two of the city gates and attempted to undermine the city walls, but were eventually forced to abandon the siege after they had been worsted in a series of bloody battles with the king's army. A number of rebels were executed in the immediate aftermath of the siege. The Livery Dole almshouses and chapel at Heavitree were founded in March 1591 and finished in 1594. When John Hooker

8715-492: The summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, but convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the sunshine hours. Annual sunshine rates are slightly under the regional average of 1,600   hours. Most of the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection – in autumn and winter by the former, which are then at their most active. In summer, much rainfall results from

8820-429: The sun heating the ground, leading to convection, showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is about 700 mm (28 in). Some 8–15   days of snowfall are typical. November to March have the highest mean winds and June to August the lightest. The prevailing wind direction is from the south-west. The town of Taunton (which for population estimates includes the unparished area or former municipal borough plus

8925-557: The surrender of the remaining Cornish army. Ringleaders were executed and others fined a total of £13,000. Taunton Castle changed hands several times in the Civil War of 1642–1645, as did the town. During the Siege of Taunton it was defended by Robert Blake from July 1644 to July 1645, and suffered destruction of many medieval and Tudor buildings. On 20 June 1685, the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England at Taunton during

9030-628: The tram service with double-decker buses and the last tram ran on 19 August 1931. The only remaining Exeter tram in service is car 19, now at the Seaton Tramway . Exeter was bombed by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War when a total of 18 raids between 1940 and 1942 flattened much of the city centre. Between April 1941 and April 1943, Exeter was defended from enemy bombers by the No. 307 Polish Night Fighter Squadron , nicknamed

9135-745: The twenty two principal areas are used for administrative purposes. Neither of these subdivisions use official county towns, although their administrative headquarters and ceremonial centres are often located in the historic county town. With the creation of elected county councils in 1889, the administrative headquarters in some cases moved away from the traditional county town. Furthermore, in 1965 and 1974 there were major boundary changes in England and Wales and administrative counties were replaced with new metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties . The boundaries underwent further alterations between 1995 and 1998 to create unitary authorities , and some of

9240-498: The west of the city, at Exe Island . However, when steam power replaced water in the 19th century, Exeter was too far from sources of coal (or iron) to develop further. As a result, the city declined in relative importance and was spared the rapid 19th-century development that changed many historic European cities. Extensive canal redevelopments during this period further expanded Exeter's economy, with "vessels of 15 to 16 tons burthen [bringing] up goods and merchandise from Topsham to

9345-517: Was The House That Moved , which is one of Europe's oldest private residences, which was due for demolition for a new relief road, but was saved after the intervention of the Ministry of Works, and was moved to a new location. On 27 October 1960, following very heavy rain, the Exe overflowed and flooded large areas of Exeter including Exwick, St Thomas and Alphington. The water rose as high as 2 metres above ground level in places and 150 employees of

9450-512: Was attacked and briefly captured by Danish Vikings . Alfred the Great drove them out the next summer. Over the next few years, he elevated Exeter to one of the four burhs in Devon, rebuilding its walls on the Roman lines. These permitted the city to fend off another attack and siege by the Danes in 893. King Athelstan again strengthened the walls around 928, and at the same time drove out

9555-520: Was abolished on 1 April 2023 when Somerset Council took over. Somerset County Council , which was based at County Hall in Taunton from 1974-2023, consisted of 55 councillors. The town has broadly six electoral divisions, each of which had a single county councillor: Taunton North; Taunton East; Taunton South; Bishop’s Hull & Taunton West; Comeytrowe & Trull, Monkton & North Curry (which includes rural areas). On 1 April 2023, Somerset's county council and four district councils were replaced by

9660-519: Was allocated for the purpose of reducing rough sleeping for the 2020–2021 period. The government's Next Steps Accommodation Programme also provided Exeter City Council with £440,000 to help reduce the number of rough sleepers on Exeter's streets. The council has also focussed its efforts on reducing rough sleeping in the long term, with a "£3 million Capital programme bid [for] the creation of 31 units of new long term move-on accommodation with dedicated support to be delivered before 31 March 2021". Exeter

9765-467: Was announced that the hotel scheme was "significantly unviable", and the Royal Clarence site would be converted into twenty-three luxury apartments with the ground floor acting as a leisure and hospitality space. The plans were officially granted permission on 11 October 2022. The work, involving the demolition and reconstruction of the remaining fabric, will last just under eighteen months and

9870-401: Was appointed to the city payroll in 1561, he created the Court of Orphans as a municipal government for families broken by the premature death of their major economic source. He also was made the Common Council as the legal owner of any estate left to the orphan children of Exeter, until they have reached the age of 21 to be partially paid back. The orphan tax was used to fund the construction of

9975-500: Was captured by the Cornish Royalist Army led by Prince Maurice. Thereafter, the city remained firmly under the king's control until near the end of the war, being one of the final Royalist cities to fall into Parliamentarian hands. The surrender of Exeter was negotiated in April 1646 at Poltimore House by Thomas Fairfax . During this period, Exeter was an economically powerful city, with a strong trade of wool . This

10080-400: Was demolished to make way for a forum and a basilica , and a smaller-scale bath was erected to the southeast. This area was excavated in the 1970s, but could not be maintained for public view owing to its proximity to the present-day cathedral . In January 2015, it was announced that Exeter Cathedral had launched a bid to restore the baths and open an underground centre for visitors. In

10185-602: Was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal command of Vespasian . Exeter became a religious centre in the Middle Ages . Exeter Cathedral , founded in the mid 11th century, became Anglican in the 16th-century English Reformation . Exeter became an affluent centre for the wool trade , although by the First World War the city was in decline. After the Second World War , much of

10290-746: Was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and subsequently established a community on the banks of the Squamscott River , he named the region Exeter after its Devonian counterpart. During the American Revolution it became the capital of New Hampshire . Exeter was secured for Parliament at the beginning of the English Civil War, and its defences very much strengthened, but in September 1643 it

10395-707: 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. It later fell into disrepair. The Somerset Buildings Preservation Trust with Falcon Rural Housing purchased and restored it for use as four units of social housing. It

10500-436: 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. Some time before Domesday, Taunton became a borough with privileges and a population of some 1,500, including 64 burgesses governed by a portreeve appointed by the bishops. Somerton took over from Ilchester as county town in

10605-423: Was identified as an obstacle to further economic growth. Part of the strategy was a new road infrastructure consisting of a £7.5 million link road to ease traffic in the town centre (Taunton's "Third Way"), completed in 2011, and a Northern Inner Distributor Road linking Staplegrove Road, the station and Priory Avenue at a planned cost of £21 million, opened in 2017. Taunton is governed by a parish/town council and

10710-530: Was partly due to the surrounding area which was "more fertile and better inhabited than that passed over the preceding day" according to Count Lorenzo Magalotti who visited the city when he was 26 years old. Magalotti writes of over thirty thousand people being employed in the county of Devon as part of the wool and cloth industries, merchandise that was sold to "the West Indies, Spain, France and Italy". Celia Fiennes also visited Exeter during this period, in

10815-554: Was the Bristol and Exeter Railway that opened a station at St Davids on the western edge in 1844. The South Devon Railway Company extended the line westwards to Plymouth , opening their own smaller station at St Thomas , above Cowick Street. A more central railway station, that at Queen Street , was opened by the London and South Western Railway in 1860 when it opened its alternative route to London. Butchers Lloyd Maunder moved to their present base in 1915, to gain better access to

10920-460: Was the only town in the south-west to have three market days per week. There are also records of seven annual fairs, the earliest of which dates from 1130, and all of which continued until at least the early 16th century. Prior to the expulsion of the Jews of England in 1290, Exeter was home to England's most westerly Jewish community. During the high medieval period, both the cathedral clergy and

11025-658: Was the southwest terminus of the Fosse Way (Route 15 of the Antonine Itinerary ) and served as the base of the 5 000- man Second Augustan Legion ( Legio II Augusta ) at some time led by Vespasian, later Roman Emperor, for the next 20 years before they moved to Caerleon in Wales , which was also known as Isca . To distinguish the two, the Romans also referred to Exeter as Isca Dumnoniorum , "Watertown of

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