Castle Hotel, Taunton

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The Castle Hotel at Taunton is a former 12th century Norman fortress, located in Taunton, Somerset.

In 1685, the Duke of Monmouth used the castle as a base before his troop's defeat by King James II at Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys then held his Bloody Assizes in the Great Hall of the Castle.

The Chapman family have been running the hotel for 50 years, with its restaurant and brasserie,Brazz, considered one of the 20 best places to dine in Britain. This is due to its fame for culturing young talented English chefs, and giving them their first Head Chef position. Past incumbents include:

Christopher Oakes
Gary Rhodes
Phil Vickery

The current head chef is Richard Guest, who regained the Castle's Michelin star first awarded to Gary Rhodes and lost under Phil Vickery's tenure. Richard Guest also holds 3 AA rosettes.

The Castle is owned by Christopher (Kit) Chapman (brother of Gerald Chapman, the second generation of Chapmans to run the hotel. Kit Chapman has written several books including "An Innkeepers Diary", about a year in the life of the hotel where amongst other activities, Kit Chapman was on This is your life and the hotel lost its Michelin star and also 2 volumes of "Great British Chefs" championing British chefs including, not surprisingly, Gary Rhodes and Phil Vickery.

From the Restaurant's home page: "Specialities: At the Castle we create our menus by drawing inspiration from our growers, producers and farmers. Right from the very first asparagus served with our cured boar and local quails eggs, to spring lamb and young vegetables or steamed line-caught Bass with fresh peas and broad beans. Beautiful berries through the summer make for great simple pleasures such as strawberries and cream and in autumn when Brixham crab is at its best and local quinces, medlars, apples and pears are dropped at our door. All these things mean that we can give our customers the freshest tastes possible and then there is our totally British cheese board, with up to 16 artisan cheeses. Make sure you try the Elmhirst - it looks like Brie but infinitely better! You will also find an excellent room service menu offering lighter pasta dishes and the best sirloin steak we can buy."