Castle House, Taunton Grade 1 Listed - the SBPT is about to reveal one of Taunton's "hidden treasures"

Painting of Castle House

Our current enormously exciting project is to restore the 15th century Castle House, Grade 1 Listed, Taunton - which lies within the curtilage of Taunton Castle.  This unique medieval, virtually unchanged, building has been one of Taunton's "hidden treasures" and, we feel, is ready to emerge in its true magnificence for all to see.  So, we were thrilled when we were approached by the Somerset County Council (who lease Taunton Castle and everything within its curtilage from the owners - the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society) to undertake this task.   We are now seeking £1m to meet the costs of the project - which seems a lot of money to find!

Aerial view of Castle House which forms the right half of of the photograph

Needless to say, we are absolutely delighted to announce that Viridor Credits has granted us £330,000 and we cannot thank the Viridor Credits Trustees enough, along with the marvellous support given us by Chief Executive Lisa Nelson and Administrator Bob Attwood.   We shall be arranging a photo call soon with Viridor Credits and pictures will be published on this Web site.

Castle House from the Courtyard. 

An Options Appraisal was carried out on Castle House and, from amongst the suggestions made, the SBPT was in absolute accord over the use that the building will have once restored.   The Vivat Trust, which leases historic buildings for holiday lets, said they would love to take on the whole building, using the upstairs area for their lettings and with the ground floor being open to all for informal and more formal learning opportunities and activities.   This programme will be planned by a Learning Partnership which is currently being formed and put in place by SANHS.   The programme will complement the learning programme being put in place for the Museum of Somerset in the main part of the Castle. We are sure you will agree that this was the perfect option and the Vivat Trust and SANHS are looking forward to welcoming as many visitors as possible once Castle House is open, which we hope will be some time in 2012.

Fine shell canopy over the front door

Once the work on the House starts in 2011, we will be organising Open Days when we hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us.  Dates and details will be published in the local press and, of course, on this web site.

We will keep you up-to-date with the progress we are making.