Buildings

The charity owns two buildings and the land on which they stand. Although there are no physical barriers between the Somerset County Cricket Ground and the museum buildings we are completely separate organisations.

The museum was established in 1985 as the successor to the Somerset County Cricket Club Supporter’s Association and itself is housed in a 15th century stone barn, the last remaining building of Taunton Priory, which was founded about the year 1120 and dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539.

The museum building has had a variety of uses and modifications over the centures, the most recent being as a store in a builder’s yard and before that as a farm barn. Almost derelict in the 1980s, it was classified as an ancient monument. The newly established Somerset Cricket Museum bought it in the 1980s and set about major reconstruction works to make it safe and to replace the roof. It is now Grade II* listed. Following the receipt of a major legacy in 2010 the building has been completely renovated and brought up to modern safety and efficiency standards.

Some visitors come to see the ancient building rather than the cricket memorabilia.

The museum’s other building stands behind the museum barn and is used for offices, storage, and accommodates Millichamp & Hall Ltd, bespoke cricket bat makers. It also hosts match day book sales and has a lending library of over 1000 cricket books in the Eddie Lawrence Library.

The Office building also holds most of the archives of the County Cricket Club. Genuine researchers may be granted access to them. Museum volunteers use them to answer questions from many sources.

The print below, drawn in the early 19th Century, before the Foundry Chimney was built sometime around 1823, shows the lands across the river which comprise Priory Fields, the Rack Fields and probably Lambrook Farm to the left. All owned by John Winter of Watts House (Cedar Falls) who leased the Rack Field to the Taunton Athletic Company and later, when the company went bust in 1886, to SCCC. John eventually selling the county ground to the club in the mid 1890s for £2,000!! 

The Priory Barn can be seen on the far right hand side of the print, next to the faux turreted Priory Lodge building (also still in existence).