St James Church - Taunton, Somerset, UK - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

The North Aisle of the church building is a good place to start a tour because it contains the oldest, and the most recent, parts of the building. The West wall has against it the concealed sink unit which is used to serve coffee at the end of the services to encourage the congregation to stay and talk to each other. The Church (the people) are obviously more Important then the church (the building). This unit was added at the same time as other alterations in 1981. The new oak may be lighter, but in another few hundred years it will have darkened to the same shade as the rest. In the meantime it gives a good idea of the colour of the rest of the wood originally, and shows how well this fitted In with the Ham Stone. The whole of this area has been much restored in the 1902-1907 works.

The wall nearest the Western end is thought to contain fragments of the earlier, 1308, building. Some of the stained glass windows near the West end have fragments of fifteenth century glass in them. The royal coat of arms above the door into the churchyard is there as a result of an Act of Parliament at the time of the restoration The window nearest the font is the most recent in the church having been donated by John end Jessie Spiller In grateful thanks for the return of eleven nephews from the Second World War. The two were sitting in the church with Rose Richards, a member until her death, and discussed their plan with her. She, having even then served a long time in Brownies, Guides and the Sunday School, suggested the theme of the children. It is most appropriate that the font shown on It is now in the same corner. The children’s figures include the uniformed organizations, while others recall the old chorus; “Jesus died for all the children”.

The window at the East end of the North Aisle has not been functional since 1884 when the vestries were added. It is a fine, tall window, unusual in having no cross pieces considering its height. When the alterations were made, in 1884, a hagioscope or squint was found. This
enables you to see where the communion table was before the chancel was extended, and hence where the East wall used to be.

Text source: (visit link)

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1308 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Church of England If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Sunday Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: 10:30 AM Street address of Church: St James Street Taunton, Somerset United Kingdom TA1 1JS Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/15/2019 Superted visited it