Gurds of Taunton, at 70 Station Road, is a cavernous treasure trove of men’s tailoring that has been a popular fixture of the town since it opened in 1924. From tailored suits and shirts to pyjamas, the shop’s stock is expansive.
Today Sarah Farnfield née Court, 48, owns and manages the shop that her great-grandfather Wallace Frank Escott Court bought from George Gurd in 1934.
Sarah started full-time at the shop nine years ago, working alongside her father John Wallace Court. He dedicated 65 years to the business, joining in 1959 aged 17 and retiring at the end of last year.
Previous to that, from 1947, Sarah’s grandfather Ronald Wallace Court ran the shop — four generations of the same family have run the shop for the past 90 years.
Gurds of Taunton, originally built as a pharmacy, has one of the town’s last surviving Grade II listed examples of a Victorian shop front, which Sarah says people often stop to admire.
Stepping into the enchanting shop it quickly becomes clear why Gurds has endured over the past century. The store offers a personal service with no appointment necessary, something the high street can’t offer.
Gurds also sets itself apart by catering for almost all body shapes and heights, including athletes with muscular physiques and those looking for a “short special”.
The shop, which has been expanded throughout the decades, stocks over 3,000 pairs of trousers and 1,500 shirts.
Sizes range from 36” to 60” Chest, 30” to 60” waist and 14.5” to 22” Collar. They offer three different arm lengths and three different fittings. Free alterations for trousers are included.
Customers come from far and wide to have the Gurds’ experience – as far as Fort William in Scotland. It also has a lot of famous faces grace the shop.
Sarah said: “Micheal Eavis used to be a big customer. Tommy Banner from the Wurzels, dad used to sell all of the neckerchiefs to them. We had Steven Graham, who was in the last Peaky Blinders.”
Gurds saw a “massive rush” on flat caps following Peaky Blinders and still struggle to keep up with the demand.
The shop has persevered through a lot of adverse events over the past 100 years, including World War II, the 1960s floods, the 1970s three-day working week and power cuts (it stayed open using candles and a generator), the 2008 market shutdown, and most recently the coronavirus lockdowns. It has always “adapted” to find its market.
Sarah said: “The personal service hasn’t changed in four generations, we have a lot of long-standing customers, generations of the same family, as well as lots of new customers. You just don’t get that on the high street.
“Dad was always very clever in spotting a gap [in the market] and filling it, with bigger sizes etcetera. I’ve recently added smaller sizes for the youngsters as they’re keen to go to prom after missing out during Covid.”
Above the shop, there’s a flat owned by Sarah that acts as a time capsule containing decades of well-preserved Taunton history and fabulous 50s wallpaper. Sarah says this is down to her family’s habit of “never throwing anything out”.
Her family moved out of the flat in 1954 and it has been frozen in time ever since, containing historic stock, paper accounts, and a sewing room for alterations that includes machines from 1936.
Old images show a double-faced clock on the shop exterior, which was knocked off by a lorry in 1975 due to the curved road camber.
Contact Gurds of Taunton at 01823333169, or visit them at 70 Station Rd, Taunton TA1 1NX.
