Taunton

Taunton is where the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England, a decision that aged badly for everyone who cheered, given that Judge Jeffreys turned up shortly afterwards to hang the audience. The town has kept its head down ever since, which in practice means cider, cricket and a Sainsbury's by the motorway you could lose a weekend in. It charts the oceans of the world from an office a long way from any sea, while the River Tone has periodic goes at the high street, and nobody here points out the irony anymore. A county town that stopped auditioning, and better company for it.