Taunton Brewhouse (previously The Brewhouse) is the largest theatre and arts centre in Taunton, the county town of Somerset, England.

The building opened on 28 March 1977, on the banks of the River Tone, and offers a purpose-built 352-seat auditorium, a supporting 60-seat versatile studio space for performances, classes and conferences, and an exhibition space.^[1] It hosts a programme of live professional and amateur theatre productions; live folk, rock, and pop music; comedians; popular and independent cinema; live broadcasts from major international venues, such as London's National Theatre and The Royal Opera House; and visual arts exhibitions.

Its first professional production was Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, starring the, then, unknown David Jason.

The Westward Room and administrative offices reside in the Old Brewery house, a Georgian Grade II listed building, which gives the theatre its name.^[2]

The main house is a proscenium arch theatre with a trapezoidal apron, which can be reconfigured to include a central vomitorium, and includes a flexible orchestra pit.

In 2005, Arts Council England announced that it would cut regular funding to The Brewhouse from 2006, following a drop in artistic output. In September 2005 a new director Robert Miles was appointed to lead the artistic re-invigoration of the organisation. It was also the first theatre, apart from the Royal Court Theatre, to stage Caryl Churchill's controversial play Seven Jewish Children.

In 2009, ongoing under funding, combined with the impact of recession and a subsequent threat of cuts meant the venue was once again put under threat of closure.^[3] With support from its stakeholders Taunton Brewhouse overcame these immediate funding concerns, and in March 2010 it was announced that the organisation had been awarded £487,500 from Arts Council England's Sustain fund to allow it to continue to programme arts and participatory activities during the economic downturn.^[4]

The venue closed in February 2013 and went into administration.^[5]

The venue reopened in April 2014 by independent arts charity Taunton Theatre Association Ltd (TTA), having been granted the lease from Taunton Deane Borough Council, who bought the 61-year lease of the site and its contents from administrator BDO.^[6][7]

In 2020 Taunton Theatre Association were awarded a significant grant as part of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.^[8]

The venue now receives regular finding from Arts Council England and Somerset West and Taunton Council.

The site on which the Old Brewery House stands was originally a field known as the Rack Hay, where cloth was stretched out to dry on the banks of the River Tone. This area later served various purposes including as a coal store and an orchard, which led to its current name, Coal Orchard. Brewing activities on the site date back to at least the early 18th century. By 1760, the site was described as having been a brewery for 30 years, featuring three houses, a malt house, brew house, coal yard, stable, and cellars. The Old Brewery House, the former brewer’s house, is believed to date from around this period.

In 1883-1885, the brewery underwent significant reconstruction by John Sloman of the Stogumber Brewery, who renamed it the West Somerset Brewery. Ownership and usage of the site evolved over the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including a period where it was leased out until at least 1913. After the sale of the Old Brewery House, it served as a social club for various electricity boards up until 1975. An Ordnance Survey map from 1968 shows the layout of the remaining brewery buildings, including a long range adjacent to the northern end of the Old Brewery House.