The village of Ruishton is 2 miles E of the centre of Taunton, separated from its urban sprawl and protected from absorption by the M5. The village is also bounded on the N by the river Tone and on the S by the A358 Taunton to Ilminster road. The church stands to the N of the village, between the centre and the river. It is an imposing building consisting of a nave with a S doorway under a porch, a chancel with a S chapel and a W tower. The body of the church and the S chapel are of rubble with Hamstone dressings, and the tower is built of coursed blue lias, also with Hamstone dressings. The S doorway contains some 12thc work, incorporated into later rebuilding. The church is mainly dated to the 14thc and 15thc, although the tower was begun in the 1530s, and the upper stages added from 1549. It remains unfinished, lacking a parapet. Norman features described here are the S doorway and a reset relief figure in a mandorla set high on the exterior SW angle of the S chapel.
