Retirement Properties Spotlight in Hatch Beauchamp

Taunton was mentioned in Domesday as Tantone and had three mills and a market. Its name derives from 'farmstead or village on the River Tone' and today it is Somerset's County Town. For much of the Middle Ages Taunton played an important part in the wool trade and Taunton cloth was renowned for its quality. The Bloody Assizes were held here after Monmouth's rebellion.

The town has many fine buildings including the Castle, now the county museum, and handsome Georgian houses in Hammet Street leading to St Mary Magdelene with its magnificent tower. One of the many interesting buildings is the Elizabethan town house of the Portman family and nearby is the Market House which has a pediment over a five bay front.

Bath Place is a narrow street of cottages mixed with an assortment of individual shops, thought to have been the main route west in medieval times.

Taunton has a broad range of high street retailers, several inns and restaurants and a thriving farmers market. It is home to Somerset Cricket Club and a well known racecourse. Art and entertainment is well catered for with the Brewhouse Theatre and Art Gallery and the Tacchi Morris Arts Centre. Concerts are regularly held in local churches and schools.