Catholic chapel

Prior to the 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; and the Churches of St Mary Magdalene and St James, which both became Anglican.^[1] The Roman Catholic Church all but died in Taunton; one book records that prior to the 19th century, "there were no Papists in Taunton".^[2] In 1787, a Mission Rector was sent to Taunton. Four years later, Catholic chapels were legalised, and the rector registered a chapel in a house on Canon Street. Upon his death in 1818, a new rector was appointed; 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, and was dedicated to Saint George. The church seated 200; greater than the estimated 120 Catholic resident in Taunton.^[1] This new church, known as St George's Chapel, was the first public Roman Catholic church in Taunton since the Reformation.^[3]

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 Franciscan Convent purchased a plot of land adjacent to their own in 1858, and St George's Church was opened in April 1860, to replace the chapel of the same dedication.^[4]

Masonic Hall

The chapel building was subsequently let out for various uses, and known as "St George's Hall".^[5][6] In 1878, the hall was purchased by members of the Unanimity & Sincerity Lodge of the Freemasons, and named the Masonic Hall;^[7] 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.^[8] 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: Richard Huish's School taught their girl's classes from there, and the cellars were used by a wine merchant.^[9]

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.^[9] 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 £337 and 10 shillings, slightly more than the initial estimate.^[10][11] 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.^[12]

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.^{[lower-alpha 1][13]}