To spot the Municipal Buildings in front of you, look for the impressive long stone building with tall, mullioned windows, quirky gablets, and a small bell tower perched on the roof, all looming just across the street behind rows of striking, pruned trees.
Alright, get ready for a trip back in time-no time machine needed, just your imagination! Picture yourself in the late 1400s. This very spot was already making history, with the east end of this building echoing with the chatter of schoolboys, as Taunton Grammar School settled in. If these stones could talk, you’d hear nearly 550 years of stories and a fair bit of rowdy laughter too, I suspect! In 1522, a rather important man named Richard Foxe, the Bishop of Winchester-and let's be honest, with a name like “Lord Privy Seal,” he was probably great at keeping secrets-transformed the school with a generous endowment. Imagine receiving a whole manor just to make sure you could pay the teacher!
For centuries, education thrived-or at least limped along, depending on the year. By the late 1700s, Foxe’s endowment barely paid enough to keep the schoolmaster supplied with quill pens and stale biscuits. And, in true legendary fashion, the rules dictated that the master of the school must be chosen by the Warden of New College, Oxford-forever! I like to think there were some serious arm-wrestling matches over those appointments.
Then came the chaos of the English Civil War. Between 1644 and 1645, Parliamentarian forces commanded by Robert Blake stormed the town. Picture cannonballs and chaos slamming into these walls! The school was badly damaged, but locals rebuilt and, by 1706, visionary master James Upton turned it into one of the country’s leading grammar schools. At its peak, over two hundred boys packed the schoolroom-that must have been a noisy bunch when the bell rang out from above!
Yet history has a sense of irony. By 1818, these “fine buildings” were oddly quiet, with “no scholars” for years. It’s as if a ghostly silence hung in these vast rooms, just waiting for future generations. Happily, in 1820, they dusted off the chalkboards, and the school revived-for a while. Fast-forward through a rollercoaster of financial ups and downs, school moves, and eventually, the original grammar school closed in 1885. But the building wasn’t finished making history!
Next came a transformation from echoing boys’ dormitories to bustling council chambers, as Taunton Borough Council took over in 1887. They extended the building to the west, adding to the mishmash of Tudor style and romantic old stone that you see today-rubble walls with dignified ashlar dressings, irregular bays, and that whimsical bellcote perched atop. Through the 20th century, generations of council meetings and civic decisions happened right here. Then, in a burst of royal excitement, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visited in 1987 to witness its conversion for a new purpose, and Princess Margaret reopened it as a voluntary service centre.
So, as you stand here in the shadow of its weathered stone, remember: this building is like a history textbook in 3D-packed with echoes of schoolboys, city leaders, and even the odd royal visitor. And if you hear the faint peal of a bell, don’t worry, you’re not late for school-just lucky enough to step into Taunton’s story.
