William Bidgood served as Curator of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society from 1862 until his death in 1900. Natural history was Bidgoodês chief interest, but he contributed to...
Reginald Henry Bean is shown with his wife Emma Lucas and three children Anna Louisa, John Rodbard and Henry Lucas. Emma was the daughter of John Robert Lucas who founded...
The Lytes were Somerset gentry who had lived in the county at least since the 13th century. They created the beautiful manor house which survives at Lytes Cary. This portrait...
This painting shows Castle Green and the Castle Hotel. In the 1800s stagecoaches travelling to and from London used the Castle Hotel as a stop-off point. Another of Tauntonês best-known...
Colonel Thomas Pigott became MP for Bridgwater in 1647. In the same year he married Florence Smyth a wealthy widow who lived at Ashton Court in North Somerset. In the...
Monmouth was the favourite but illegitimate son of Charles II. When his Catholic uncle James II succeeded to the throne, Monmouth became the focus for Protestant opposition. But his rebel army...
Edmund Wyndham was a leading Somerset Royalist during the Civil War. In 1644 he besieged Taunton, bombarding the castle from the west and the town from the east. When Robert...
This watercolour provides the only pictorial record of the complex of buildings that existed behind Hammett Street, East Street and North Street. The picture predates the earliest detailed map of...
Lady Gass has served the county in many ways. Most recently she has acted as Somersetês Lord Lieutenant, the monarchês representative in the county. This portrait was painted by Hans...
This sculptured limestone panel is part of a reredos or screen carved in about 1500. The reredos probably stood behind the high altar of St Johnês Church in Wellington and...