Saxon site built up with a motte and bailey during the early C12 and a tall keep was added some years later. It had fallen into ruin by 1500 but it has now been restored as the County Museum, although the moat no longer exists. The castle was probably built by Bishop William Gifford between 1107 to 1129 and originally consisted of a motte and bailey. A rectangular keep was built on the site of the motte between 1160 and 1170 together with a curtain wall. This was destroyed in C17. The bailey was later divided into inner and outer wards by a ditch with a retaining wall, dated to 1170 to 1210 by excavations in 1927. The buildings of the inner ward include the Great Hall and Camera and the Constable's tower, a round tower and C15 gatehouse along with other buildings. There is a probable siege work of 1644-5 on the site of the eastern rampart.

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Name	Taunton Castle
Alternative Names
Historic County	Somerset
Civil Parish	Taunton
Type	Timber Castle Masonry Castle Palace
Confidence	Certain
Remains	Masonry ruins/remnants
Listed	Grade 1
Scheduled Ancient Monument	Yes
Ordnance Survey Reference	ST226246
Eastings	322600
Northing	124640
Images of England Reference	269653
PastScape Reference	190841
Historic Environment Record	44204

Multi Map

StreetMaps

Books

• Prior, Stuart, 2006, A Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War (Tempus) p68-109
• Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p430-34
• Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p84-6
• Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p91, 94-5, 121, 123, 186
• Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p224
• Dunning, Robert, 1995, Somerset Castles (Somerset Books) p47-51 [plan]
• Leach, Peter (ed), 1984, The Archaeology of Taunton: excavations and fieldwork to 1980 (Bristol: Western Archaeological Trust excavation monographs Vol8) p11-58
• King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p444-5
• Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p305
• Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
• Pevsner, N., 1958, Buildings of England: S and W Somerset p319-20
• Oman, Charles W.C., 1926, Castles (1978 edn Beetham House: New York) p57-9
• Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
• Alford, 1906, Taunton Castle Notes on its Construction and History (Taunton) [poor history]
• Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol2 p69-73
• Clark, G.T., 1884, Medieval Military Architecture in England  (Wyman and Sons) Vol2 p488-92
• Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p547-8

Antiquarian

• William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/dorseteng.html#somerset7]

Journals

• Youngs, S.M. et al, 1988 ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1987' Medieval Archaeology Vol32 p272–3 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Dennison, E. (ed), 1987, ‘Somerset Archaeology 1987' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History 131 p221, 223
• Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' Archaeological Journal Vol143 p316
• 1981, Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol125 p99
• Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1979, ‘Medieval Britain in 1978' Medieval Archaeology Vol23 p268-9 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Webster, L.E. and Cherry, J., 1978, ‘Medieval Britain in 1977' Medieval Archaeology Vol22 p177 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
• Aston, M. (ed), 1978, ‘Somerset Archaeology 1977’ Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol122 p130
• Aston, M. (ed), 1977, ‘Somerset Archaeology 1976’ Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol121 p121
• Taylor, R., 1974, 'Castle House, Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol118 p25-7
• Hunt, T.J., 1971, 'Some 13C building accounts for Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol115 p39-44
• Hallam, A.D., 1965, 'Excavations at Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol109 p98-103
• Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
• Radford, C.A.R. and Hallman, A.D., 1953, 'History of Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol98 p55-96
• Seaby, W.A., 1950, 'Taunton Castle' Archaeological Journal Vol107 p98
• Vivien-Neal, A.W. and Gray, H.St.G., 1940 'Materials for a history of Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol86 p45-78
• Spencer, J.H., 1911, 'Structural notes on Taunton Castle' Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Vol56 p38-49 [structural notes]
• Clark, G.T., 1872, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society Vol18 p60-76 [reprinted/adridged in MMA]
• Warre, 1853, Proceedings of the Somerset Archaeology and Natural History Society Vol4 p18-32

Primary Sources

• Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p429