Concerts in the West are held at The Meeting House Arts Centre.

After the Glorious revolution in 1688 protestantism flourished and in 1719 the Unitarian Meeting House was built, "for worship by Dissenters." John Edward Taylor who founded the Guardian was born there in 1791, son of the Minister at the Meeting House.

The Meeting House now serves as the town's art gallery and concert hall. It is where the Concerts in the West are held and the Meeting house Café provides supper beforehand for those wise enough to book.

Ilminster itself is a charming, quiet, country town lying just to the east of the intersection of the A303 (London to Exeter) and the A358 (Taunton to Chard and Axminster). It takes its name from the River Ile and its wonderful church, the Minster.

Ilminster is mentioned in documents dating from 725, in a Charter granted to the Abbey of Muchelney (10 miles to the north) by King Ethelred in 995 and in the Domesday Book in 1086.

Ilminster has been home to some famous people. Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, founders of Wadham College Oxford, Anne Speke of Dillington who married Lord North, Prime Minister in 1770, John Hanning Speke who discovered the source of the Nile in 1862 and Field Marshal Lord Harding who became Chief of the Imperial General Staff and of course John Edward Taylor all have connections with the town.

Ilminster was twice devastated by fire but despite this by 1670 was the fourth largest town in Somerset. Several of the buildings in the centre date from this time and because they are built on the site of older buildings some of them contain fascinating architectural features, unfortunately they are mostly in private homes and so not readily available to the public.

In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth and his followers camped at Winterhay Farm on the western outskirts of the town. They were defeated at Sedgemoor just a few weeks later as they attempted to overthrow the regime of James II.

The George Hotel, now converted to private housing, was Ilminster’s principal coaching inn and Queen Victoria, then a baby, spent a night there in 1819.

The Chard -Taunton Canal opened in 1842 and closed in 1862 when the railway took its business. Part of the canal and one of the inclines still exist behind the Recreation Field.

The Chard to Taunton railway brought more trade and improved people’s ability to travel. In those days people still used local time while the trains ran on London time so the town’s clock maker made a special clock set to “Railway Time” and marked as such so that people would know when the trains were due. It can be seen over the door of his old shop, now the town’s florist.

Thanks to Sustrans the railway line is now the cycle route to Chard, traffic free, peaceful and set in lovely countryside.

The Market House in the middle of town provides shelter from the West Country rain, or these days from the sun as we globally warm, and is surrounded by a wonderful collection of Georgian and Victorian buildings and some more recent ones which in the main fit in well.

Ilminster’s West End is home to the Warehouse Theatre. Established a few years ago by a dedicated band of thespians, it puts on an amazingly high standard of productions. There are professional performances too and Ilminster’s cinema club shows its films there.