and
St Mary Magdaleneform the backdrop to the ground In the winter of 1880,
Somerset County Cricket Club, prompted by an article in the
Somerset County Gazette describing cricket in Taunton as being "in a sorry plight", were considering building their own ground. Athletics was booming in the town, and it was an amalgamation of sporting clubs that leased seven and a half acres of land known as "Rack Field" from local gentleman farmer John Winter for £50 per year. A cricket pitch, cycling-track and running-track were all laid on the ground with great difficulty; with the land lying next to the
River Tone. Although Edward Western promised that Somerset could play fixtures on the ground, he acknowledged that the cricket pitch belonged to Taunton Cricket Club. The new sports centre was opened on
Whit Monday 1881, with an athletics fixture held on the newly laid running-track to mark the occasion. Although some cricket was played at the ground in 1881, it was not yet ready for first-class matches. Taunton Athletic Society, thanks to money raised by Western, funded the erection of a grandstand and pavilion on the ground ready for a 15-mile
bicycle race between French champion
Frédéric de Civry and
John Keen in August 1881. Known as the Taunton Athletic Ground,
Somerset County Cricket Club played their maiden first-class game there in 1882. Originally a nomadic club, Somerset played their home matches across the county, relying on the good will of other people. Four first-class matches were played at the ground in 1882; after a five-wicket victory over
Hampshire County Cricket Club in the first match, Somerset failed to win any of the remaining games, culminating in an innings and 19 run loss against the touring
Australians. Somerset lost their briefly held first-class status in 1886, but in the same year took out a nineteen-year lease on the Athletic Ground. The more loyal members of the club had decided that there was a need to restructure the club and have a permanent home. Somerset regained their first-class status after an
unbeaten season in 1890, winning the so-called 'Second-class County Championship'. The first official
County Championship match was played at the ground in 1891, a nine-wicket loss to
Lancashire. A section of the ground known as the "Hen Coop" was used by the important families in Taunton, and although there were no official seat reservations, no one else occupied these seats in the absence of their regular user. For the less well off, hard benches were placed around much of the ground, and the floor was used by many others, particularly under some
chestnut trees. A public bar was erected soon after, and was well used, especially after the First World War. During the Second World War, the ground, like many others in the country, was lent to the military. It was used by local soldiers and firemen alike, but the groundsman was careful to maintain the cricket surface throughout the war, in preparation for use again at its conclusion. In 1989 the
Somerset Cricket Museum was opened at the ground within the Old Priory Barn, a Grade II*
listed building. The exhibits and displays in the museum primarily cover the cricket club's history including
Test match players such as
Ian Botham and
Marcus Trescothick. It also has a section devoted to the
England women's cricket team, due to the County Ground being their headquarters. The museum also hosts a collection of
I Zingari memorabilia, a club to whom current chairman Charles Clive Ponsonby-Fane has strong family links. In June 2010, Somerset County Cricket Club officially reopened 'The Colin Atkinson Pavilion' after undergoing GBP1.25 million ($1.8 million) of redevelopment – this, together with the construction of the Marcus Trescothick Stand (in 2008), the Somerset Stand (in 2009), and the Ondaatje Pavilion (in 2011) has enhanced the capacity of the County Ground to 8,500; It hosted three matches at the
2019 Cricket World Cup. ==Structure and facilities==