Taunton Racecourse is a

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

venue located in

Orchard Portman Orchard Portman is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 150. The parish includes the hamlet of Thurlbear and the nearby Thurlb ...

, two miles south of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Opened in 1927, Taunton is the youngest

National Hunt In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...

course in England, and the last racecourse to be opened in Britain until Great Leighs in 2008.

History

Horse racing has been taking place in the Taunton area since the 18th century, initially taking place in Broomhay,

West Monkton West Monkton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north east of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The parish includes the hamlets of Monkton Heathfield, Bathpool, and Burlinch and the western parts o ...

, though these ceased in 1812 due in combination to the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and a lack of interest. Racing continued in Bridgwater, north, but recommenced in Taunton in 1825. The course was on the site now occupied by King's College, and was praised highly in the annual publication ''Sporting Magazine''. Race meetings took place for two days at the beginning of September. The site was troubled by heavy rain in 1838, which washed out all the races, and two years later racing moved to Trull Moor, where they continued for a further 15 years. After this, the sport was once again confined to Bridgwater, and ceased even there at the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1927, at a meeting held in London, the Taunton Racecourse Company was founded, and agreed to create a new course on land granted for the purpose by Viscount Portman. The site had housed Orchard Portman House, the seat of the Portman family, but the house was destroyed in 1840. A small church, which was part of the estate is still visible on the backstretch. The first meeting was held on 21 September 1927, and the first race, the "Shoreditch Selling Hurdle" was won by Baalbek, owned by Mr Rayson. Initially, spectators were housed in nothing more than a wooden stand, which was commonly surrounded by huge puddles of mud, but the ground has been heavily outgraded, and include the Orchard Stand and the Paddock Stand (which is the members enclosure) and the newer AP McCoy stand, which provide catering facilities and are used for meetings and conferences on days when racing is not taking place. The course was the last racecourse to be opened in Britain for 81 years, until Great Leighs hosted its first race in 2008, followed the subsequent year by Ffos Las.

Course details

Taunton is a right-handed oval track, with two long straights and two tight bends. The course is 1mile and 2furlongs (2.01km) in length, and has both

fences A fence is a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary. Fence or fences may also refer to: Entertainment Music * Fences (band), an Amer ...

and open ditches to negotiate. The course was improved during the building of the

M5 motorway The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West England, South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 motorway, M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Brom ...

, with the removed earth being used to extend the back straight and the bends.

Gallery

Image:Tauntonracecourse.JPG, Orchard Stand Image:Tauntonracecourse2.JPG, Paddock Stand

References

External links

Taunton Racecourse (Official website)Course guide on At The Races
{{Coord, 50.9900, N, 3.0850, W, type:landmark_region:GB, format=dms, display=title Sport in Taunton Buildings and structures in Taunton Sports venues in Somerset Horse racing venues in England Sports venues completed in 1927