Siege of Taunton

The Siege of Taunton occurred during the English Civil War.

Taunton Castle changed hands several times during the great Civil War of 1642-45 but only along with the town.

From July 1644 to July 1645 Parliamentary forces commanded by Colonel Robert Blake were besieged by Royalist forces under Lord Goring in Taunton, the only Parliamentary enclave in the South West of the country. A relief column under Colonel Ralph Weldon made it to Taunton on 11 May, but the combined forces were still besieged. The two generals held out until help arrived on 14 June after the troops could be spared from the Battle of Naseby.

Blake, who went on to become an admiral, is famed for declaring that he had four pairs of boots and would eat three pairs before he would surrender.

The town suffered destruction of many of the medieval and Tudor buildings. After the war, in 1662, the castle keep was demolished and only the base remains.