England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Halse St James

The Parish

The parish of Halse lies in western Somerset close to its border with neighbouring Devon. Halse is about 6 miles northwest of Somerset's capital Taunton on the northern edge of the Vale of Tone. Halse is a compact village grouped around a crossroads of lanes about a mile north of the B3227 road which connects Taunton with Wiveliscombe and Bampton. Halse sits on an undulating plain but land rises to the northwest into the beginnings of Exmoor, the land would have been largely pastoral at the time of this transcript but nowadays is a mixture of pastoral and arable land use. Halse sits at about 60 metres above sea level on a ridge of land that is bordered to both north and south by small tributaries of the River Tone, all the drainage being headed eastwards to join that river at Taunton. The parish was of a fairly normal size for the area, around 1,300 acres, and supported just over 400 parishioners. In Domesday times the land was held by one Roger Arundel and supported just 6 ploughs, however there were other assets including meadows, pastures, woodlands, various documented livestock and a mill.

The Church

St James's church sits on the southern edge of Halse, it is accessed up a rather narrow walled lane from the main village street (better to park there!). The church is mostly from the Perpendicular period e,g, 15th century but there are portions which are clearly earlier. The western tower shows features more typical of the 13th century and the southern doorway is Norman. The north arcade shows a rather splendid Green Man which Pevsner dates to the 13th century - a rather splendid piece. The church as stated is best accessed up its lane on foot, as it is very narrow with no parking at the end. A set of wooden gates gives access to the graveyard. Whilst there are mature trees around the borders the graveyard itself is open giving good aspects for photography.