Welcome to VAN HIRE TAUNTON

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Van Hire Taunton

Taunton is the largest town in the shire of Somerset, and host of the famous Taunton Flower Show, held annually in Vivary Park since 1866 – be sure to time your Thrifty van hire with the show, so you'll have something to take your new plants home in. The name Taunton derives from 'town on the river Tone', or 'tone-town'. The town was important in Saxon times, with a castle here in about 700AD, and a monastery in 904, if not before.

Be sure to visit the Taunton Castle, the site of a 1100s Norman fortress, while you have your Thrifty van hire. The Castle Hotel is part of the grounds, and the restaurant is considered to be one of the 20 best places to eat in England. The Chapman family have been running the hotel for the last 50 years – be sure to pop in and say hello, or stop for a pint. Of what remains of the original castle, the great hall and inner ward now form the Somerset County Museum.

Towards the end of the 1600s, there were two religious schools in Taunton: Paul's Meeting, and the Baptist Meeting. Behind what was then the Three Cups in (now the County Hotel) at the top of Paul Street, Paul's Meeting was formed and quickly became the largest congregation in the area.

In 1683, the mayor of the time sacked both meetings, and the people began clandestine Paul's meetings in private homes on the outskirts of town. These were regularly raided by the justices, and after a change in law in 1689 the meetings reopened. The Baptist meeting became the New Baptist Meeting, and was rebuilt in 1721 as Mary Street Chapel – since then the congregation has been Unitarian. The interior still has the original furnishings. Why not park your Thrifty van hire and have a look around inside?