Countess Gytha of Wessex controlled the town in 1066 and the Domesday Book indicates that William the Conqueror was its tenant-in-chief in 1086.

Isabella also controlled the Port of Topsham, Devon, through which much of Tiverton's woollen exports were transported, mostly to the Low Countries.

[7] Tiverton owes its early growth and prosperity to the wool trade, which caused the town to grow rapidly in the 16th and 17th centuries.

It was founded in Tiverton in 1604 and relocated to its present location on the outskirts of town in 1882, where it functions as an independent school.

[10] The parish registers of Barnstaple reported of the second fire: "In the yere of or Lorde God 1612 in the 5th daye of the month of Auguste was the towne of Teverton burned the second tyme wth fyer to the nomber of 260 dwellynge howses.

"[11] During the English Civil War in 1645 Tiverton Castle, held by the Royalists, was the scene of a relatively brief siege by Thomas Fairfax's Parliamentarian forces.

The Parliamentarian forces entered Tiverton under Major General Massey on 15 October, the town's defenders fleeing before him towards Exeter.

On Sunday Fairfax had "several great pieces" of artillery brought up, ready for a renewed barrage on Monday, which commenced at 7 a.m.

The siege was ended when a lucky shot broke one of the drawbridge chains and an alert squad of Roundheads gained swift entry.

There were occasional riots, and societies of woolcombers and weavers were formed in an effort to protect jobs and wages.

[15] The industrialist John Heathcoat bought an old woollen mill on the river Exe in 1815, and after the destruction of his machinery at Loughborough by former Luddites thought to be in the pay of Nottingham lacemakers, he moved his whole lace-making operation to Tiverton.

[16] The factory turned the fortunes of Tiverton again, making it an early industrial centre in the South West.

Trade was aided when a branch of the Grand Western Canal from Tiverton to Lowdwells was opened in 1814, with an extension to Taunton in 1838.

In 1847, the Chartists, a radical group seeking to change the electoral system, stood one of their leaders, George Julian Harney, against Palmerston.

Tiverton Museum was opened, the track bed of the old railway was bought to provide footpaths and an adventure playground, and the Grand Western Canal was saved from dereliction as a country park.

[21] Tiverton's revival in recent years began with the construction of the A361 (the North Devon Link Road) in the late 1980s.

[23] The town has a newly built Tiverton and District Hospital funded by the Private Finance Initiative, which opened in May 2004.

[27] Tiverton as the venue for the annual Mid Devon Show[28][29] won one of 15 positions in the Round 2 pilot scheme as a Portas Town in 2018.

The town's revival in recent years began with the construction of the A361 North Devon Link Road in the late 1980s.

National Express operates coach services in and out of Tiverton bus station towards London and North Devon.

Mainline trains were occasionally diverted via Tiverton if there was engineering work or damage on the section north of Stoke Canon.