A Bastion of Englishness: 75 Years of the Chapman Family at Taunton’s Castle Hotel
- Martin Hesp
- Feb 9
- 7 min read
There are things in life that just don’t change. They are permanent fixtures. You expect them to be there and, when you turn up, you’re somehow comforted to find they’re doing what they’ve always done. It could be anything, from a local hilltop with a memorable view to a favourite pub - but in this particular case I want to talk about a grand old hospitality establishment.
Whenever I think of Taunton’s Castle Hotel, set in the heart of Somerset’s county town, my mind goes back to the black-and-white world as seen in classic British movies such as Brief Encounters. This is an establishment with class. It’s got a natural easy style, and has more history than you could shake a jousting lance at. Nothing could be more quintessentially English.
The Gateway to the West Country
If a foreign acquaintance - say an American - was coming to visit and said they wanted to stay somewhere that had more Englishness about it than almost anywhere else, I’d recommend the Castle Hotel. Not only because of the classy old establishment itself, but because of its setting. As a county town, Taunton is wonderfully located, with two of Britain earliest Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty on either side and the enigmatic Somerset Levels stretching forth to the east, as well as Exmoor National Park rising in the west.
And in summer, he or she could take the five minute stroll to the County Cricket Ground to watch that most English of sports. I mention this because I once interviewed the cricket commentator Henry Blofeld in the comfortable interior of the Castle Hotel, and somehow you just don’t get more English than Blowers.
The Chapman Legacy: 75 Years of Tradition
And there’s another quintessential Englishman you’re almost bound to meet at the Castle Hotel - its proprietor, Kit Chapman. He will tell you, with immense pride, how the award-winning establishment has been owned by his family for the past three-quarters of a century. It has been Somerset’s leading flagship hostelry for many centuries, but the Chapman years have given the place the big name and style while continuing the kind of tradition which is becoming ever more rare when you think about modern ideas of pedigree and heritage.
The charming and erudite Kit was brought up in the hotel as a boy, back in the days when his parents lived in-house and controlled absolutely everything with a micromanagement eye to detail. Which puts him beyond the age when most people would be hanging up their spurs, but as he told me: “No innkeeper can ever be retired - they have to be taken out in a box, horizontally… Because that’s the game we’re in.”
A New Generation at the Helm
Actually, his son Nick has taken over the day-to-day management as CEO, but that doesn’t stop Kit from popping in on a continuous basis to oversee the many various and intricate proceedings that come with running a major hotel.
And. Of course, overseeing that standards are upheld. If you meet Mr Chapman Senior, you are left in no doubt that he is a man who lives up to, and expects, the very highest of standards. And why not? A classy hotel instantly loses its reason-for-being if those high standards drop. There are all too many cut-price alternatives run by giant corporations, if all you want is a bed to sleep in and some rudimentary hospitality.
Here’s Kit talking about the essence of the Castle Hotel’s ethos… “In this hotel, it is all very personal—and deliberately so. We like to look after people and show them a good time. That is what it’s about. That is what hospitality is about: good food, a comfortable night’s sleep, and all the rest of it.
“I keep telling the staff this… We’re in the happiness business. That’s what we want to do. We want people to leave this place a little bit happier than when they first arrived.”
Navigating the Modern Hospitality Landscape
Indeed, I found myself feeling happier after spending a couple of hours with Kit and Nick one day last week. I could have come away feeling a little depressed because the pair are having something of a hard time in these days when the government seems hellbent on slamming a wrecking ball through the UK’s hospitality industry. There are multiple other factors that have come along to erode the business of a grand old hotel in a county town.
For centuries it would have been obvious why such a place needed to exist. A county town was the central human hub for a large area, and there would have been all manner of commercial, administrative and other reasons why folk would want to visit. But now a county town is much like any other urban centre - plus it has all those cut-price places offering a bed for the night. As for the leisure side of the equation, it’s the country-house style establishments that are seeing more business nowadays as people want to escape the fumes and noise of their cities.
Reinvention and Custodianship
However, a place like The Castle does have a USP - and it is a rich and worthy Unique Selling Proposition. And both Kit and Nick are determined to maintain it, as well as reshape and reinvent it for the modern world.
As the third generation at the helm, Nick views his role as one of “custodianship”. While acknowledging the harsh economic climate, his focus is on a strategic “reinvention” of the business. It involves an investment in the hotel’s physical fabric - modernising 44 bedrooms and revitalising the events spaces - while leaning into the site’s unique 800-year Norman history. With a new team leading the Brazz brasserie and a clear eye on the future 100-year family milestone, Nick says he is positioning The Castle to bridge the gap between “old-fashioned” hospitality and the expectations of the modern traveller.
“We need to build on that history, build on the tradition, build on the values... Old-fashioned, top-quality hospitality and excellent food - and we do have an edge when it comes to our heritage.
“It is pretty cool, isn’t it?” Smiled Nick. “I mean, a Norman castle with 800 years or more of heritage. That is real history.”
A Sense of Permanence
I enjoyed a delicious lunch with father and son at Brazz, which nowadays acts as the hotel’s main restaurant (some fabulous fishcakes as a starter followed by confit duck leg, should you ask - and all on a special lunch menu priced at not much over £20) - but what I really enjoyed most was listening to Kit’s many anecdotes, some of which we repeat below in the Castle Tales panel.
Also, the visit was special for me because of the reason’s laid out at the beginning of this article. Some places are permanent fixtures. You expect them just to be there and, when you turn up, to find that they’re doing what they’ve always done.
When I was a child growing up in Somerset, we’d regularly visit Taunton and I’d always feel a sense of awe when it came to the grand Castle Hotel. We never had the funds to enter its hallowed halls but later, as a journalist, I’d go there occasionally to interview celebrities (like Gary Rhodes who used to be chef, and the aforementioned Blowers) or cover some august event or other. Now, here I was chatting with the owner as if we were two old friends, despite the fact that, for some reason, we’d never met before. And what I came away with was that wonderful feeling of permanence. It is worth celebrating if you can find it. And the Chapman’s 75th anniversary helps us do just that.
SIDEBAR: CASTLE TALES
The Hairspray Epiphany
Before joining the family firm, Kit worked in London advertising. The moment he realised he was in the wrong trade occurred at a sales conference for a client’s hairspray. “The curtains parted, and there was this enormous display of hairspray. Of 'gunk,' really. And the loudspeakers came out with Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, if you please, to introduce a can of hairspray! I thought: ‘This is really very stupid. What am I doing here?’”
Three British Gentlemen in America
In a 1970s bid to attract American tourists, Kit and two colleagues rebranded themselves as "The Three British Gentlemen" and flew to the USA on the Concorde. “With bowler hats, furled umbrellas, ties and shirts made in Jermyn Street... we were being treated like bloody rock stars. Ridiculous! We got mobbed in Atlanta, Georgia by all these women who met us off the plane. We got into our bedrooms and there were gifts from them—t-shirts with 'We love you all' and stuff like that.”
The Art of the "Cabinet Minute”
Kit recalls a lunch with Lord Armstrong of Ilminster, who had been Cabinet Secretary under Margaret Thatcher. Armstrong shared his secret to recording history: “He said, ‘I never ever wrote down what they actually said. Nor did I note what they thought they said. But I always wrote down what should have been said if they had thought about it.’”
The Keith Floyd “Disaster”
The legendary chef Keith Floyd was a regular character at The Castle, but one specific event nearly caused Kit a heart attack. “By the time he got up to speak, he was roaring drunk. He started making a speech that would have made a rugby 15’s faces go red. He was so disgusting. I wanted to dig a deep hole and pile into it because I thought, ‘This is the best way to lose my clients.’”
The Hotel “Ironing Service” of 1950
Kit’s description of the hotel’s state when his father first arrived in 1950 serves as a hilarious (if slightly grim) reminder of how far the establishment has come. “The then housekeeping department rarely changed the sheets, but gave them a quick iron and put them back on the beds. My father spent his first night at the Castle with the night porter cleaning the place.”
Kit Chapman has always been a keen supporter of the arts in Taunton and I promised we’d carry the following link for those interested in Somerset county’s cultural scene - Arts Taunton link – https://artstaunton.co.uk
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