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| Photo from Head Topics |
England were 2-1 at lunch after three overs, after Australia had declared at 420-8.
Australia tore through England's middle order, leaving them 199-6 at the close of play with one day left.
Requiring 72 just to avoid the follow-on, Nat Sciver made an unbeaten 60 after Amy Jones was dismissed for 64, helping the English charge.
On the 38th anniversary of Ian Botham and Bob Willis' Ashes heroics at Headingley, England's women will be looking for something similar in a match in which they look dead and buried.
Chasing 271 to avoid the follow-on, they would need to declare as early as possible with a view to bowl Australia out and complete the run chase - all in one day.
At the start of their innnings, they knew that batting well and quickly were key.
Jones and captain Heather Knight put on 79 for the second wicket at a good rate, before Sophie Molineux trapped the skipper lbw for 28.
They never recovered from that setback, losing the next four wickets for just 53 runs.
Georgia Elwiss suffered a run out from a Nicole Bolton direct hit after trying an unnecessary single.
Jones chipped to mid-off off Molineux, before the left-arm spinner had Sarah Taylor trapped lbw for just five.
Sciver brought up her first Test 50 in her fifth match, and her partnership of 55 with Katherine Brunt was ended when the latter was bowled for 15 by Ash Gardner.
The run rate diminished to less than two an over after tea, with England batting more defensively.
Australia had earlier come out to bat for the third successive morning in Taunton, adding 79 runs from 22.4 overs before declaration.
That included a maiden half-century for Beth Mooney, her dismissal for 51 prompted captain Meg Lanning to call England in to bat.
Tammy Beaumont was bowled for a duck by Ellyse Perry, the England opener had picked up a thumb injury on the second day but still came out to bat.
Spinners bowled 59 of the 83 overs, with Molineux the pick of the bunch sending 29, but it was Gardner who chipped in with the late wicket of Brunt - both of them on Test debut.
Women's Ashes Fixtures and Results
Teams earn four points for a win and two for a draw in the Test, with two points for a win in all limited-overs games.
2 July
First ODI, Leicester
Australia won by two wickets (England 0-2 Australia)
4 July
Second ODI, Leicester
Australia won by four wickets (England 0-4 Australia)
7 July
Third ODI, Canterbury
Australia won by 194 runs (England 0-6 Australia)
18-21 July
Only Test, Taunton
26 July
First Twenty20 international, Chelmsford
28 July
Second Twenty20 international, Hove
31 July
Third Twenty20 international, Bristol
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