The Church of St James is a
Church of England parish church in
Taunton,
Somerset, England. It dates from the early 14th century, although an earlier church, associated with
Taunton Priory, was located on the same site in the 10th century. The church is dedicated to
St. James the Greater
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
. It is a Grade II*
listed building.
The church backs onto the
Somerset County Ground and forms a familiar backdrop to the Cricket ground.
The
waggon roof
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
above the
nave and north
aisle is medieval. The south aisle and the south porch were rebuilt between 1836 and 1837, with the west tower following in the 1870s and the
chancel being rebuilt in 1884. The
font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
dates from the 15th century and the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
from 1633. There are fragments of 15th century
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
in the West end. Other stained glass is from
Clayton and Bell in the 19th century.
The iron railings around the churchyard are from the early 19th century.
The parish is part of
Diocese of Bath and Wells.
See also
*
List of towers in Somerset
*
List of ecclesiastical parishes in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
References
External links
*
St James' Church web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint James' Church, Taunton
Taunton
Buildings and structures in Taunton
Grade II* listed buildings in Taunton Deane
Grade II* listed churches in Somerset
Sandstone churches in England