$26 
from-London ig 148 miles weft by fouth, 
Jon. 3° 15’, weft, and lat. 51° 6’, north. 
It has ever beena principal town in the 
county of Somerfet. Before the modern 
imprevements were introduced, it was 
deemed -weil-built; its ftreets are fpacious, 
and as it fpreads over a confiderable ex- 
tent of ground, the houles, even in the 
middle of it, are generaily furnifhed with 
good outlets and gardens, that contribute 
much to the plealantnels and fshubrity ef 
the town, as wcll as to the convenience 
of the inhabitanrs. Itis amuile long | from 
the ealt to the weft, and its ftreets have a 
gradual defcent tothe river. It ftands ina 
fertile and extenfive plain, and is called 
by Cambden, one of the eyes of the coun- 
ty. Thecountry all around it is beauti- 
fied with green meadows ; abounds in de- 
Jightful orchards and gardens, is enriched 
with woods and peopled with numerous 
villagers; fo as to exhibit, to the eye of 
the {pectator at a diftance from it, a 
charming feene. The county ittelf, 
though in the winter moift and marthy, 
aS fuppa! ed by fome to derive its’ name 
from the fummer-like temperature of the 
air, The part of it, in which Taunton 
is firuated, has, if not an exclufive yet, a 
peculiar ciaim to the excellent qualities 
which are afcribed to the whole. On ac- 
count of its fertility the peafantry ufed 
to boat, thar it was fo fruitful with the 
Run nat zoil, as to need no manuring. 
. Yhis country is called by the inhabitants 
“Faunton-Dean* ; i. e. Vale of Taunton ; 
and from their high conceit of its pre- 
eminence ebdove other countries, has arifen 
a boaliful proverb, ‘¢ Where fhould I be 
bern elie but in Taunton-Dean 2?”’—as if 
it were a dilparagement to. be-born in any 
ether place; and none in England, nay 
in the whole world, were to be co: npdeed 
tait. There is reafon to fuppofe, that 
it was not unknown to the Romans; 3 as 
Roman coins and divers other antiqui ties 
have been dilcovered, in digging up the 
foundations of old houfes. Jt was a 
place of great note in the times of 
the Saxons. Ina, one of the Welt 
Saxon kings, as early as the year 700, 
buiit a cafile here for his refidence, and is 
faid to have held here the firft great council 
ef his kingdom. This caftle was deliroyed 
by his queen, Ethelburga; a new one 
was built by one of the bilhops of Win- 
-ehefter, about the time of the Conqueft, 
and afterwards confiderably improved, as 
weil as repaired, by other bifhops. The 
* From the Saxon word pen, which 
means both a valley end woody place. 
) or 
Agcount of Tf. auntons 
[ Nov. I, 
manor of Taunton-Dean was, in an early 
period, connected with the fee of Win- 
chefter; but it is uncertain by whofe mu. 
Hificence this afiignment was made ; 
whether by Fritheiwitha, the wife of 
Ethelard, fucceflor toIna; or by Emma, 
the wife ae Echelred II. The town was 
not only the feat of the Bifhop of Win- 
chefter’s refidence, and a great fource of 
his wealth, but alfo a mart and place of 
trade: for then there were in it 64, bur= 
gefles. The mode of fucceflion in this 
manor is fingular ; for eftates defcend to a 
man’s widow, and a younger fon in- 
herits before the elder. On every fale or 
mortgage, an eltate is furrendered into 
the hands of the lord, by the delivery of 
the pen ; which farrender’ is lodged in the 
exchequer, or the room where all the 
titles of the manor are depofited, and may 
at any time be examined. The manor 
of Taunton, which originally included the 
town and borough, i is now difting from i it. 
When this feparation took place, is a mat. 
ter of doubt. The town, for the moft 
part, now ftands on fee fimple lands, fub- 
jek to chief ments, called bifhop’s rerits. 
Among the religious foundations, by 
-wnich this town was, in former ages, dif- 
tinguifhed, was a priory, or nunnery of 
Black Canons, fituated on the north fide of 
the town, wire the Eaft Gate, built 
and endowed by William Giffard, Bifhop 
of Winchefter in 1127, and dedi cated to 
St. Peter and St. Paul, which was much 
improved and increafed by his fucceffor, 
Henry de Blois, brother to King Stephen 
and had alfo, in after times, many other 
confiderable benefaétors. The annual 
value of the lands, at the time of its fup- 
preflion, was, according to Dugdale, 
2861. 8s. 10d. There were alfo four < 
chapels, one of which was the church of. 
St. Mary Magdalen, then dependent on the. 
mother church dedicated to St, Pererand St.» 
Paul. There were allo aleper houfe, and a: 
houfe of White orCarmelireFriars. There 
were likewife fix chaniries, anda frater- 
niiy of the Holy Crofs. In 1535, TPaun- 
ton was appointed to be the fee of a fuf- 
fragan bifhop. The firft appointment of 
an Archdeacon of Taunton was in 1106, 
the 7th of Henry I. His juriidiction ex- 
tends to the twenty parifhes in Taunton, 
exclufively of the thirty parifhes, that con- 
ftitute the hundred of ‘Taunton-Dean. 
Few towns are laid out in a fuperior 
mode for convenience or air, moft of the 
ftreets being wide and the arrangement 
leaving room, in general, for extenfive! 
outlets and gardens. The principal fireets 
run from eatt- to weft, and from north to 
: fouth, 
