Taunton St Mary non communicants

In the 16th century religion and politics were so closely entwined that anyone not attending church was punished, often by heavy fines. In rural parishes people were regularly presented to the archdeacon or bishop for failing to attend church but in urban parishes many people probably got away with failure to attend most of the time. However, in 1591-2 the authorities decided that churchgoing at Taunton St Mary was lax and compiled a list of 258 parishioners who did not receive Easter communion.