Taunton Priory

Taunton was one of several existing houses of secular clergy which was transformed into an Augustinian priory during the reign of Henry I. King Edward granted Taunton an exemption from royal dues in 904, and his successors, Athelstan in 938 and Edgar in 978, confirmed Taunton's rights and privileges. In the 1110s, William Giffard, bishop of Winchester, took five canons from Merton Priory to reform the house at Taunton, apparently no easy matter. One canon returned to Merton; it is presumed that the four others stayed in Taunton. The canons of Taunton were joined by two others, c.1180, from the newly dissolved Buckland Priory. Much later, in 1315, Taunton housed the Knights Templar Richard…