Twelve miles from Bridgwater,
Somerset's county town of TAUNTON lies in the fertile
Vale of Taunton, wedged between the Quantock, Brendon and Blackdown
hills. The region is famed for its production of cider and scrumpy
(cider's less refined cousin), while Taunton itself is host to
one of the country's biggest cattle markets.
Taunton's Castle , started
in the twelfth century, staged the trial of royal claimant Perkin
Warbeck, who in 1490 declared himself to be the Duke of York,
the younger of the "Princes in the Tower" - the sons
of Edward IV, who had been murdered seven years earlier. Most
of the castle was pulled down in 1662, but a part of it now houses
the County
Museum (Tues-Sat:
April-Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March 10am-3pm), which includes a portrait
of Judge Jeffreys among other memorabilia of local interest.
Overlooking the county cricket ground are the pinnacled and battlemented
towers of the town's two most important churches: St James and
St Mary Magdalene , both fifteenth-century though remodelled
by the Victorians. St Mary's is worth a look inside for its roof-bosses
carved with medieval masks.
Otherwise Taunton should
only detain you as a base to visit the Quantock villages or Exmoor.
Information is on hand at the tourist office in the library building
on Paul Street (April-Sept Mon-Thurs 9.30am-5.30pm, Fri 9.30am-7pm,
Sat 9.30am-5pm; Oct-March Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.30pm, Sat 9.30am-5pm;
tel 01823/336344). Central B&Bs include three within a few
steps of each other on Wellington Road: Brookfield at no. 16
(tel 01823/272786), Beaufort Lodge at no. 18 (tel 01823/326420)
and Acorn Lodge at no. 22 (tel 01823/337613).
A couple of miles outside
town, near the village of West Monkton, Prockters Farm (tel 01823/412269;
£40-50) is a comfortable old country retreat with brass
beds and antiques plus a large garden. For a snack or meal ,
head down East Street from Fore Street to Brettons , a congenial
wine bar at 49 East Reach (closed Sat & Mon lunch, plus all
Sun). Vegetarian dishes are served at the Brewhouse Theatre and
Arts Centre on Coal Orchard, by the cricket ground, a good place
to come in the evening, when there's usually something going
on.
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