Taunton Racecourse is a

thoroughbred horse racing Thoroughbred racing is a sport and Horse industry, industry involving the Horse racing, 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 know ...

venue located in

Orchard Portman Orchard Portman is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated south of Taunton. The village has a population of 150. The parish includes the hamlet of Thurlbear and the nearby Thurlbear Wood and Quarrylands Site of Special Scie ...

, two miles south of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Opened in 1927, Taunton is the youngest

National Hunt National Hunt Racing, also known as Jump Racing, is a form of horse racing particular to many European countries, including, but not limited to: France, Great Britain and Ireland. Jump Racing requires horses to jump over fences and ditches. In ...

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. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlets of Monkton Heathfield, Bathpool, and Burlinch and the western parts of Coombe and Walford, Somerset ...

, though these ceased in 1812 due in combination to the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

and a lack of interest. Racing continued in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

, 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 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 1927 establishments in England