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Taunton
The Severn Deanery
Taunton
Taunton began as a Saxon village and was called Tone Tun. The Saxon
word tun means farm or estate and the word ‘tone’ is Celtic and may
mean” roaring river”. Taunton was a wool town with exports to France
and later Africa. After its wool industry declined the town has been
involved with: silk making, brewing, iron founding and the making of
optical equipment, clothing, textiles and cider making.
In 1935 Taunton was made the county town for Somerset, instead of
Weston super Mare, an indication that it was growing in size and
importance. In 1974-75 the M5 motorway was built past Taunton which
meant that there were better communications and transport routes
leading to the town growing more rapidly. Taunton is also an important
regional shopping centre and an important market town with a
population of 102,000.
Dominating Taunton is the parish church of St Mary Magdalene with
its superbly decorated tower, the highest in Somerset. Around the town
centre is the Taunton Heritage Trail - a self-guided, circular walk
illustrated by brass plaques showing information about its history are
in the pavement. Taunton prides itself on its award winning floral
displays and gardens and in Vivary park it hosts Taunton Flower Show,
the 'Chelsea of the West', in early August.
Taunton has a variety of shops, including big high street names.
Cider is the local West Country drink, and is widely produced in
Somerset - those interested in cider production should head for
Taunton. There are Farmers Markets, music in the park on Sundays and
street entertainment at weekends. Taunton castle is currently closed
to the public for a refit and will re-open as the Museum of Somerset
in late summer 2010 Taunton has a range of cafes, restaurants, pubs,
takeaways and sandwich bars and is in an excellent position to explore
the rest of Somerset.
Along with its beautiful and varied coastline, Somerset is host to
some amazing areas of countryside, including three Areas of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (the Quantock, Mendip and Blackdown Hills)
and the Exmoor National Park. There are also plenty of historic towns
and villages tucked away in the county for you to discover and
explore, not to mention the world's finest County Cricket Club,
resident in the county town of Taunton.
The links on this page will take you to some useful websites
outside of the Deanery's control. The Severn Deanery is not
responsible for any of the information published by external websites.
Local News & Information
BBC
Somerset and
thisissomerset.co.uk provide useful resources for local news and
information relevant to Somerset. Information about the local area can
also be found on the
Somerset County
Council website.
Housing
If you are looking to rent or buy a property in Somerset, the
following websites may be of interest to you.
 FindaProperty.com |
Provides listings of properties available to rent
or buy in Somerset, as well as links to local estate and
letting agents |
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UpMyStreet.com |
Gives details of property prices by area and
includes information about crime and policing, local services,
schools etc. |
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OnOneMap.com |
Search for properties to rent or buy using the
popular Google Maps interface |
Entertainment
The following are links to websites and on-line directories
detailing things to do in Somerset:
Hidden
Somerset - Online directory of some lesser-known Somerset gems
VisitSomerset
- Official tourist information for Somerset
Leisure
& Culture Somerset County Council website
Hospitals
Musgrove Park Hospital
Musgrove Park Hospital is part of Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation
Trust.
It is the largest General Hospital in Somerset and serves a
population of over 340,000. Each year 34,000 patients are admitted as
emergencies; 10,000 patients are admitted for elective surgery; 28,000
are seen for day case surgery; 238,000 outpatient appointments are
held; 49,000 attend Accident and Emergency, 3,000 babies are born in
the Maternity Department and 170,000 diagnostics tests are carried
out.
Musgrove Park has an annual budget for 2007/08 of £181m. The
hospital has over 700 beds, 15 operating theatres, an Intensive Care
and High Dependency Unit, a Medical Admissions Unit, a fully equipped
Diagnostic Imaging Department and a specialised Children’s Department
including a Paediatric High Dependency Bay. Musgrove Park also
provides Neonatal Intensive Care for all of Somerset. It employs about
4000 staff.
Musgrove Park aims to be a high quality, constantly improving
hospital, providing excellent clinical services in an efficient,
effective and integrated way.
For further information please use the following link:
http://www.tsft.nhs.uk/
This page was last updated
20/08/08
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