The foundations of St Mary Magdalene church were probably laid in the early eighth century when Ina, king of the West Saxons established Christianity in Taunton. The church was first built in stone as part of the reorganisation of Taunton by Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, by 1180. St Mary’s became the town church in 1308 when Bishop Hazelwood of Winchester changed its legal standing from a chapel of Taunton Priory to a church with its own ‘living’; the Revd Simon de Lyme became its first incumbent. This was achieved through a legal process known as the ‘Ordination of the vicarage’.
The church is mainly built of sandstone and has a painted interior, except for the ‘forest’ of pillars which line the four aisles – a rare feature in a parish church. Most of the statues and stained glass date from the Victorian restoration. The main instigator of these ‘improvements’ was the Revd Dr James Cottle who, in the 1840s removed the high box pews, replacing them with the present ones. A later successor, the Revd Dr William Robinson Clark introduced more high church features such as the raised chancel floor.
Within the church there are a variety of memorials and tablets including War Memorials for soldiers from Somerset, including the Somerset Light Infantry.
