Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, The

'The Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society was founded in 1849 following discussions among "several gentlemen of Taunton and its neighbourhood." It was one of several such organisations established in the English shires during the 1840s, and reflected the early Victorian flowering of interest in county history and archaeology, as well as in the natural environment. By 1851, the society had 420 members - including large numbers of the Somerset gentry and clergy - and published that year the first volume of its annual Proceedings. It was also beginning in those early years to collect items for a society library and museum.

'The society's early home was in the Victoria Rooms (since demolished) at the centre of Taunton. In June 1874, however, the status and ambitions of the society were dramatically transformed when it acquired Taunton's medieval castle as its new headquarters ... By the early 20th century the society had not only succeeded in rescuing Taunton Castle, but had secured a national reputation as a collector and publisher, and as a promoter of field meetings and archaeological excavation ...

'The financial difficulties which had beset the society at least since the Second World War were greatly eased in 1958 when the castle and the museum collections were leased to Somerset County Council for 49 years. Staff of the County Museums Service remain the day-to-day managers of the castle and its collections, though the society has retained use of some space in the estate. The Society's library was transferred in 2010 to the Somerset Heritage Centre adjoining the County Council's Somerset Studies Library. There, the two collections now form one of the finest local studies libraries anywhere in England.'