Taunton
Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
,
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, is a small museum housing exhibits on the history of cricket with a particular emphasis on the history of Somerset County Cricket Club.
Building
The building, which is within the confines of the County Ground, is the Old Priory Barn, a Grade II*
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. It is the only surviving building of the
Augustinian Augustinian may refer to:
*Augustinians, members of religious orders following the Rule of St Augustine
*Augustinianism, the teachings of Augustine of Hippo and his intellectual heirs
*Someone who follows Augustine of Hippo
* Canons Regular of Sain ...
Taunton Priory
Taunton Priory, or the Priory of St Peter and St Paul, was an Augustinian house of canons founded c. 1115 by William Gyffarde (also called William Giffard), Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England near Taunton, Somerset, England.
Histo ...
which was founded about 1115, although there is some evidence that its early use was not as a barn but as a guesthouse or quarters for a Priory
official. The local stone rubble has been repaired with red brick and has a tie-beam roof covered with
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
s. The door and window openings are made of Bishops Lydeard stone. The exact dates of the building are disputed, but is argued to be from the late 15th or early 16th century, and replacing an earlier 13th or 14th-century building on the site, but incorporating some of the earlier building. It was a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
until 1999 when it was descheduled. The building was once used as a chapel by Frenchmen, possibly prisoners during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Prussia ...
or
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
History
The Old Priory Barn was purchased by the Somerset CCC Supporters Club when it became available in 1979, as the cricket club was unable to afford it at the time. Over the next ten years the building was restored, and in April 1989 the museum was officially opened to the public.
Collection
The exhibits and displays in the museum primarily cover the cricket club's history, including
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick (born 25 December 1975) is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals.England women's cricket team, as the County Ground is their headquarters. The museum also hosts a collection of
I Zingari
I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...
memorabilia, a club with which current chairman Charles Clive Ponsonby-Fane has strong family links.