Society of One Place Studies - Blogging Prompts

A New Year, a new challenge! 

In 2020 I joined the Society of One Place Studies with my Street Study of The Crescent in Taunton, Somerset, England. It was one of the best decisions I made in the craziness that was the year 2020! Like everyone else, I have had real ups and downs this past year, but working on my study has been a stabilising force in a changing world. I am fortunate in that I live just a short walk from the place that I have chosen to focus my One Place Study on, although the residents of The Crescent came from and moved away to many different areas around the globe.  

This year, the Society of One Place Studies has invited everyone to take part in their Blogging Prompts 2021. I look forward to taking part. So what are the blogging prompts that have been set for the first six months of 2021...

OK...so January 2021 is #OnePlaceLandmarks. In my very first blog post, I discovered that many of the structures on The Crescent are listed on Historic England's Listed Buildings. This includes most of the buildings that were once people's homes but are now business premises. The Listed Buildings are the following:

• Unison House (Formerly listed as the Somerset County Club) 
• 1-11 The Crescent
• 15-20 The Crescent 
• 20 and 21 The Crescent     
• The Masonic Hall (Formerly a Roman Catholic Church)
• A Block County Hall and Entrance Forecourt and Pavements 

I also found a great website called Somerset Historic Environment Record (HER) which has some great information and links to further materials available at the Somerset Heritage Centre in Taunton, Somerset, England regarding listed buildings and monuments along with conservation areas. 

So fundamentally most of my Street Study is a listed building with the exception of Exchange House at 12-14 The Crescent which was formerly the General Post Office Telephone House and is now a flexi-office space in the centre of Taunton. Telephone House was built in 1941 and "breaks the modesty of the street, with "its thick-set Tuscan porch" [1].    

During January, I will probably just consider one of the 6 listed buildings, although I am yet to decide which one! Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated along with hearing from folks taking part in #OnePlaceBlogPrompts. My handle on Twitter is TheCrescentOPS.

It would be wonderful to hear from you via the comments section on this blog or via my Facebook page. If you would like to see the tree that I have been building for my One Place Study for each individual house, it is on Ancestry under 1 The Crescent Taunton One Place Study. This study is also part of the Society of One Place Studies.

[1] Pevsner, Nikolaus (2001) [1958]. The Buildings of England: South and West Somerset London: Penguin Books. p. 317–8. ISBN 0-14-071014-0.