View source for Masonic Hall, Taunton

{{Short description|Grade II listed building in Taunton, UK}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Good article}}
{{Infobox building
| name                = Masonic Hall
| image               = File:Masonic_Hall, Taunton.JPG
| image_size          = 150
| image_alt           = Masonic Hall, Taunton
| image_caption       = Pictured in 2013
| map_type            = Somerset
| map_alt             = Location in Somerset
| map_caption         = Location in Somerset
| map_size            =
| coordinates         = {{coord|51.012397|-3.105149|display=inline,title}}
| former_names        = St George's Chapel
| location            = [[Taunton]], Somerset
| opened_date         = 3 July 1822
| embedded            =
{{Designation list
| embed = yes
| designation1 = Grade II* Listed Building
| designation1_offname = Masonic Hall
| designation1_date = 4 June 1952
| designation1_number = 1060044
}}
}}
The '''Masonic Hall''' in [[Taunton]], [[Somerset]], is designated by [[Historic England]] as a Grade II* [[Listed building (United Kingdom)|listed building]]. It was originally built in the early 19th century as '''St George's Chapel''', the first Roman Catholic chapel open for public worship in Taunton since the [[English Reformation|Reformation]]. The building, which forms the end of a terrace, features a series of prominent [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[pilasters]] along the front and southern end.
Opened in 1822, St George's Chapel served Taunton's growing Catholic community for over 35 years, before they moved to a larger church which was completed in 1860. After being rented out for a time, when it was known as St George's Hall, the building was then sold in 1878 to a company acting on behalf of a group of [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], who purchased it to provide a home for the Unanimity & Sincerity Lodge. It now hosts nine different Lodges of the Freemasons.
==History==
===Catholic chapel===
Prior to the [[English Reformation|Reformation]], Taunton had three Catholic churches; the Church of St Peter and St Paul, which was part of [[Taunton Priory]], and was destroyed during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|Dissolution]]; and the Churches of [[St Mary Magdalene, Taunton|St Mary Magdalene]] and [[Church of St. James, Taunton|St James]], which both became Anglican.<ref name="h1">{{cite web|url=http://www.tauntoncatholicchurch.co.uk/history/4541152157 |title=History |publisher=Taunton Catholic Church |access-date=6 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205064700/http://www.tauntoncatholicchurch.co.uk/history/4541152157 |archive-date= 5 February 2015 }}</ref> The Roman Catholic Church all but died in Taunton; one book records that prior to the 19th century, "there were no Papists in Taunton".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2sMrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA371 |title=The Protestant's Companion |last=Daubeny |first=Charles |year=1824 |publisher=C & J Rivington |location=London |page=371 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207142734/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2sMrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA371 |archive-date=2015-02-07 }}</ref> In 1787, a [[Catholic missions|Mission Rector]] was sent to Taunton. Four years later, Catholic chapels [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791|were legalised]], and the rector registered a chapel in a house on Canon Street. Upon his death in 1818, a new [[Rector (ecclesiastical)#Roman Catholic hierarchies|rector]] was appointed; [[The Reverend|Rev.]] Samuel Fisher. The new rector immediately began raising money for a permanent church, which was opened on 3 July 1822. The building was located on [[The Crescent, Taunton|The Crescent]], and was dedicated to [[Saint George]]. The church seated 200; greater than the estimated 120 Catholic resident in Taunton.<ref name="h1"/> This new church, known as St George's Chapel, was the first public Roman Catholic church in Taunton since the Reformation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000528/19370403/082/0003 |title=Old and New Streets |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |page=3 |date=3 April 1937 |access-date=7 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Within 35 years, the congregation had swelled, and St George's Chapel was no longer large enough to serve the Catholics of Taunton. The nearby [[St Joseph's Convent, Taunton|Franciscan Convent]] purchased a plot of land adjacent to their own in 1858, and [[St George's Roman Catholic Church, Taunton|St George's Church]] was opened in April 1860, to replace the chapel of the same dedication.<ref name="h2">{{cite web|url=http://www.tauntoncatholicchurch.co.uk/history2/4541152167 |title=History page 2 |publisher=Taunton Catholic Church |access-date=6 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207141334/http://www.tauntoncatholicchurch.co.uk/history2/4541152167 |archive-date= 7 February 2015 }}</ref>
===Masonic Hall===
The chapel building was subsequently let out for various uses, and known as "St George's Hall".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000348/18670130/011/0004 |title=Taunton News |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=30 January 1867 |page=4 |access-date=6 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/7th-december-1867/7/diocese-of-clifton- |title=Diocese of Clifton |work=The Tablet |page=7 |date=7 December 1867 |access-date=6 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207141754/http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/7th-december-1867/7/diocese-of-clifton- |archive-date=7 February 2015 }}</ref> In 1878, the hall was purchased by members of the Unanimity & Sincerity Lodge of the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], and named the Masonic Hall;<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000348/18781030/070/0005 |title=Taunton News |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=30 October 1878 |page=5 |access-date=6 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> it was consecrated by [[Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon]], the Provincial Grand Master of Somerset Freemasons in January the following year. The Unanimity & Sincerity Lodge had originally met in [[Ilminster]] after their constitution in 1788, and moved to Taunton in 1797, meeting at the London Inn.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000348/18790115/063/0004 |title=Dedication of the Taunton Masonic Hall |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=15 January 1879 |page=4 |access-date=6 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The owners of the building, though members of the Freemasons had purchased the property as a limited company, and also rented the building to other users: [[Bishop Fox's School|Richard Huish's School]] taught their girl's classes from there, and the cellars were used by a wine merchant.<ref name="home">{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000348/18790108/060/0006 |title=Freemasons at Home |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=8 January 1879 |page=6 |access-date=6 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
After purchasing the building, the Masonic Hall Company, in addition to the necessary decorating, also commissioned a builder, William Templemen to carry out a number of structural changes; the lobby was split into three rooms, to provide a "robing chamber" on one side, and a small waiting room on the other. Beyond the large main hall, what had been the [[vestry]] had a temporary partition removed, and a toilet added. The staircase down to the kitchen was moved, and in the kitchen itself a cooking range was installed.<ref name="home"/> In the mid-1880s, an extension was made to the hall by the same builder; a two-storey building, of which the ground floor served as a warehouse. The extension replaced a previous building that had been deemed "unfit for repair". The extension was completed at a cost of [[£sd|£]]337 and 10 [[shilling]]s, slightly more than the initial estimate.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000526/18840806/009/0005 |title=Taunton News |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=6 August 1884 |page=5 |access-date=7 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000526/18850805/011/0004 |title=Taunton News |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=5 August 1885 |page=4 |access-date=7 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref> By 1892, the hall was no longer being used by the school, now known as Bishop Fox's, for their girl's lessons. Further renovations were carried out around that time at a cost of just over £180.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000526/18920810/051/0005 |title=Taunton News |work=Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser |date=10 August 1892 |page=5 |access-date=7 February 2015 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
The hall continued to be let out for various social functions, and is currently home to nine lodges of the Freemasons; Unanimity & Sincerity Lodge, Lodge of St George, Taunton Deane Lodge, Queens College Lodge, Old Aluredian Lodge, Taunton School Lodge, Richard Huish Lodge, Vivary Lodge and the Emergency Services Lodge.{{efn|As of February 2015.}}<ref name="fm">{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetfreemasons.org/Somersetlodges/Taunton/lodges.html |title=Lodges meeting in Taunton |publisher=Somerset Freemasons |access-date=7 February 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150207144612/http://www.somersetfreemasons.org/Somersetlodges/Taunton/lodges.html |archive-date= 7 February 2015 }}</ref>
==Architecture==
The Masonic Hall sits at the southern end of a terrace. It has a [[stucco]] front, with two pairs of [[Ionic order|Ionic]] [[pilasters]]; the larger ones frame the building, and appear to support an [[Eaves|overhanging]] [[cornice]] with a decorative [[dentil]] finish. The smaller pilasters are either side of a large doorway, and are topped by a [[pediment]]. The double wooden doors have six panels, and are fronted by six steps which are almost the same width as the building. On the southern side of the building, more Ionic pilasters rise the height of the building, spread between four large windows.<ref name="fm"/><ref name="list">{{National Heritage List for England |num=1060044 |desc=Masonic Hall |access-date=6 April 2015}}</ref>
The hall is designated by [[Historic England]] as a Grade II* [[listed building]], and is considered to form a group with Numbers 1–11 and 15–20 The Crescent, which are both similarly Grade II* listed, and with the Grade II listed properties; 21 and 22 The Crescent, Somerset County Club, Dragon Book Shop and Number 14 Bath Place.<ref name="list"/>
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
[[Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1822]]
[[Category:Former churches in Somerset]]
[[Category:Freemasonry in England]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in Taunton Deane]]
[[Category:Masonic buildings in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1822 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Taunton]]