During the English civil war King Charles I had the whole of Somerset under his control. With the exception of Taunton. The town had been taken by parliaments forces in 1642 with William Waller in charge. When the parliamentarians first took control they searched the properties of anyone they suspected of supporting the royalists and found large quantities of arms. All the munitions that they found were transported to Taunton Castle and stored there under guard. By 1645 the King had gained control of the rest of Somerset and for a short period in 1644 had managed to take back Taunton. Colonel Blake and Robert Pye took possession of the castle from Colonel Reeves who had commanded it for the King. Having tried a number of times to retrieve the town but unable to take it back for the King Taunton was surrounded and they tried to starve the occupants out.

In the Spring of 1645 10,000 of the Kings men marched on Taunton under the command of Lord Goring. These 10,000 men came to be known as Gorings' crew and were said to have committed butchery rape and robbery wherever they were. It is said that the abhorrence of these men lived in the minds of Tauntonions for several generations.

The parliamentarians underwent a remodeling of their army and part of this new model army was sent to Taunton under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax. Eight thousand men made their way to Taunton and they brought with them plenty of provisions and money to help the cause. Some discussion was given to whether or not Fairfax should go to Oxford instead but in the end the decision was made to try and relieve Taunton. While fairfax was on his way to Taunton the situation changed and the Kings men were deployed to Oxford. Fairfaxes army was split and only one brigade actually came to the aid of Taunton. The brigade consisted of four regiments commanded by Colonel Weldon, Colonel Fortescue, Colonel Floyd and Colonel Ingoldsby under the command of colonel Weldon. These brigades marched towards Taunton meeting with other supporters along the way and amassed to approximately four or five thousand men. As the men approached the town with the advantage of the hills they pealed according to the information their spies had given them. The Kings army had, however, divided itself and entered into skirmishes within view of the town in an attempt to draw the occupants of Taunton out. The intention was that if the Tauntonions left the town the kings forces could cut them off from re-entering it and would have effectively re-taken it. The Tauntonions did not fall for this and stayed within the town. Frustrated by the Tauntonions action the Kings army once again attacked the town and burnt two streets completely to the ground. They were pushed back once again by the occupants of Taunton. With the rest of Colonel Weldons army following up behind them the Kings men turned towards them to take them on. It was at this point that the Tauntonions left the Castle and attacked them from their rear. This was a successful action and those soldiers they did not kill were taken prisoner.

On the Monday morning of the 12th of May 1645 Colonel Weldon entered Taunton without opposition. It is said that Colonel Weldon was dismayed at the sight of the town. East Street was almost completely burnt to the ground and had been entered a number of times by Kings soldiers. The occupants of the town looked famished. The siege had lasted for fifty four days and the 11th May was a local celebration date for many years after.

This was not the end of siege for Taunton though as by the end of May the Kings forces were back and had once again forced Taunton into a siege situation. All of the men that had come to Tauntons aid were now forced back inside Taunton Castle in a defensive position. Messages were sent to parliament and funds were promised to pay for more soldiers to help the town. Fairfax was slowly moving towards the town but fighting other battles along the way. On the 4th July news was heard by Fairfax that the siege had been lifted and the Kings forces had moved on to Ilminster. In early July Tauntonions had endured a five week siege. They had slain 1000 royal soldiers and taken 400 prisoner. Parliament gave Taunton the sum of £2000 for its part in the civil war but it was not over yet.

Charles I was eventually executed on the 30th January 1649 and the next few years are known as the English interregnum. In 1660, however the restoration took place which turned out to be bad news for Taunton. Charles II was established onto the throne and he took revenge on the towns that he saw as the seat of rebellion. In 1662 commissioners were appointed to each of the towns and counties in the country. The claim was that Charles was securing the peace of the country. Orders were given that any town that had walls or had been a garrison during the civil war was to have those walls destroyed. In Tauntons case this was done so completely that today no one is completely sure of where exactly they used to be. Taunton also had its town charter removed from it at this point in time