First Parish Church (Taunton, Massachusetts)

First Parish Church is an historic church located within the Church Green Historic District in Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton, Massachusetts

Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County and the hub of the Greater Taunton Area. The city is located south of Boston, east of Providence, north of Fall River and west of Plymouth. The City of Taunton is situated on the Taunton River...

. It is the fourth meetinghouse since 1647 to be located on what was the original town common. The current church building was built in 1830, constructed of field stone in the Gothic Revival style.

The church steeple is capped with four pinnacles and contains the 1804 bell from the third meetinghouse. In 1869 the sanctuary was enlarged and a chapel was also added. In 1965 another addition was made to the east.

Parish history

The First Parish was established in 1637 by a group of Puritans from Devonshire, England

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, led by Elizabeth Pole, by way of Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...

. In 1640, they renamed the new settlement after Taunton, England. The First Parish was the first church to be established in what would become Bristol County, Massachusetts

Bristol County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 534,678 people, 205,411 households, and 140,706 families residing in the county. The population density was 962 people per square mile . There were 216,918 housing units at an average density of 390 per square mile...

, and only the fifth church to be established within Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...

.

The first two meetinghouses built on Church Green also served as the location for civic and political business until 1746. The third church was built in 1794, and was designed by noted architect Charles Bulfinch

Charles Bulfinch

Charles Bulfinch was an early American architect, and has been regarded by many as the first native-born American to practice architecture as a profession....

.

The parish is now a Unitarian-Universalist

Unitarian Universalism

Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...

congregation.

Parish history

See also