Blue Idol Quaker Meeting House and Guest House, Thakeham, West Sussex

Summary

Quaker meeting house. Late-C16, adapted in the 1690s. Late-C19 and early-C20 alterations, including an extension of 1934-1935 to the design of Hubert Lidbetter. Restored in 2013-2015 under the instruction of Simon Dyson, HMDW Architects.

Description

MATERIALS: timber-framing in-filled with brick and plaster, brick laid to stretcher bond, weatherboard, with Horsham slab and clay tile roof coverings.

PLAN: irregularly composed. The earlier meeting house is L-shaped on plan, comprising the main meeting room range with attics oriented east-west and a two-storey domestic range oriented north-south (extended in 1893). The C20 two-storey former guest-house range is massed to the north and east of the domestic range.

EXTERIOR: the meeting house stands in the former Quaker burial ground in a secluded location to the east side of Oldhouse Lane. The older ranges to the south are box-framed with nogging and plaster-filled panels. The C19 and C20 extensions to the north are in red brick laid to stretcher bond visible to the ground floor, with white-painted weatherboard cladding the upper storey. The windows are a mix of diamond-paned and square-paned casements. The gable roofs of the older ranges have Horsham slab coverings, whilst the gable and half-hipped roofs of the extension have clay tile coverings. There is a large external chimney stack to the east end of the main meeting room’s south wall, a ridge stack at the junction of its domestic range and the modern extension, and two further stacks to the former guest-house.

The main (west) elevation comprises, from right to left, the end frame of the main meeting room lit by a centrally-placed large four-light window above a smaller single-light window, then the two-bay domestic range which is lit by small casement windows to each storey including two ground-floor windows in the third bay. A doorway with a tiled pentice is in the angle of the projecting gable end of the first modern bay. That gable is lit by a large eight-light transom window to the ground floor and a four-light window above, whilst the ground floor of the last bay is lit by one window. There is a small window in the west-facing gablet of the main meeting room.

The south elevation, comprising the side wall of the main meeting room, is clad in white painted weatherboard, interrupted by the almost centrally-placed main entrance with a square single-light window above. There is a gable dormer lighting the attic space over the main meeting room, whilst the large external brick chimney stack occupies the eastern end.

The irregular east elevation includes, from left to right, the weatherboarded end frame of the main meeting room lit by a casement window to each storey, including the attic; then the two-bay domestic range which is here single-storey, comprising one window and a door under a catslide roof; and the modern extension in two bays including a ground-floor canted window. The three-bay north elevation includes a small ground-floor window and a doorway, with two three-light casement windows lighting the upper storey and, to the right, the return of the projecting gable includes one ground-floor window.

INTERIOR: the planked double-leaf door in the south elevation leads into the main meeting room. The box-framing of the three-bay space is exposed with plainly plastered and painted panels. North-south oriented tie-beams are arch-braced and the room is ceiled over the tie-beams, with east-west oriented joists exposed.

The raised Elders’ Stand occupies the north-west corner of the western bay. It is accessed by a short quarter-turn stair to the west and a straight stair to the east, and is fronted by a balustrade with stick balusters. A fixed bench continues around the west and south walls of this bay. A doorway in the north wall leads into the domestic range. The eastern bay, which includes a large brick fireplace to the south wall and a doorway to the north wall, is dominated by the gallery. The gallery has a panelled front and is accessed via a staircase in the north-east corner. That stair continues into the attics over the main meeting room.

The attics over the main meeting room and over its domestic range provide the warden’s accommodation, whilst the ground floor of the domestic range combined with the modern extension are let as a private dwelling. The ground floor of the domestic range comprises four rooms, that to the north-west having a large brick fireplace in its north wall with a timber bressumer that has a tongue-stopped chamfer. A staircase inserted in the north-eastern room in the 1930s leads to the first floor, whilst a staircase in the south-western room provides access to the attics. The domestic range is reported to include a number of historic doors, including some with wooden latches. The modern extension includes ground- and first-floor rooms, with brick fireplaces and wash-hand basins in some first-floor rooms reflecting its former status as a guest-house.

History

The Quaker movement emerged out of a period of religious and political turmoil in the mid-C17. Its main protagonist, George Fox, openly rejected traditional religious doctrine, instead promoting the theory that all people could have a direct relationship with God, without dependence on sermonising ministers, nor the necessity of consecrated places of worship. Fox, originally from Leicestershire, claimed the Holy Spirit was within each person, and from 1647 travelled the country as an itinerant preacher. 1652 was pivotal in his campaign; after a vision on Pendle Hill, Lancashire, Fox was moved to visit Firbank Fell, Cumbria, where he delivered a rousing, three-hour speech to an assembly of 1000 people, and recruited numerous converts. The Quakers, formally named the Religious Society of Friends, was thus established.

Fox asserted that no one place was holier than another, and in their early days, the new congregations often met for silent worship at outdoor locations; the use of members’ houses, barns, and other secular premises followed. Persecution of Nonconformists proliferated in the period, with Quakers suffering disproportionately. The Quaker Act of 1662, and the Conventicle Act of 1664, forbade their meetings, though they continued in defiance, and a number of meeting houses date from this early period. Broad Campden, Gloucestershire, came into Quaker use in 1663 and is the earliest meeting house in Britain, although it was out of use from 1871 to 1961. The meeting house at Hertford, 1670, is the oldest to be purpose built. The Act of Toleration, passed in 1689, was one of several steps towards freedom of worship outside the established church, and thereafter meeting houses began to make their mark on the landscape.

Quaker meeting houses are generally characterised by simplicity of design, both externally and internally, reflecting the form of worship they were designed to accommodate. The earliest purpose-built meeting houses were built by local craftsmen following regional traditions and were on a domestic scale, frequently resembling vernacular houses; at the same time, a number of older buildings were converted to Quaker use. From the first, most meeting houses shared certain characteristics, containing a well-lit meeting hall with a simple arrangement of seating. In time a raised stand became common behind the bench for the Elders, so that travelling ministers could be better heard. Where possible, a meeting house would provide separate accommodation for the women’s business meetings, and early meeting houses may retain a timber screen, allowing the separation (and combination) of spaces for business and worship. In general, the meeting house will have little or no decoration or enrichment, with joinery frequently left unpainted. Ancillary buildings erected in addition to a meeting house could include stabling and covered spaces such as a gig house; caretaker’s accommodation; or a school room or adult school.

Throughout the C18 and early C19 many new meeting houses were built, or earlier buildings remodelled, with ‘polite’, Classically-informed designs appearing, reflecting architectural trends more widely. However, the buildings were generally of modest size and with minimal ornament, although examples in urban settings tended to be more architecturally ambitious. After 1800, it became more common for meeting houses to be designed by an architect or surveyor. The Victorian and Edwardian periods saw greater stylistic eclecticism, though the Gothic Revival associated with the Established Church was not embraced; on the other hand, Arts and Crafts principles had much in common with those of the Quakers, and a number of meeting houses show the influence of that movement.

The C20 saw changes in the way meeting houses were used which influenced their design and layout. In 1896 it was decided to unite men’s and women’s business, so separate rooms were no longer needed, whilst from the mid-1920s ministers were not recorded, and consequently stands were rarely provided in new buildings. Seating was therefore rearranged without reference to the stand, with moveable chairs set in concentric circles becoming the norm in smaller meeting houses. By the interwar years, there was a shift towards more flexible internal planning, together with the provision of additional rooms for purposes other than worship, reflecting the meeting house’s community role – the need for greater contact with other Christians and a more active contribution within the wider world had been an increasing concern since the 1890s. Traditional styles continued to be favoured, from grander Classical buildings in urban centres to local examples in domestic neo-Georgian.

During the mid-C17, Quakers in the area around Thakeham parish were meeting in Friends’ houses. Initially they were hosted by John Snashold, and meetings went on to be held in the houses of John Shaw of Shipley, and William Penn who lived in nearby Warminghurst. Penn, who had become a Quaker in the late-1660s, had developed a close relationship with George Fox and it was their collaboration that ‘created a coherent Quaker philosophy’ (Geiter 2004). Although pursuing his political career and spending a number of years in America whilst establishing the colony of Pennsylvania, Penn was involved in the early stages of founding the Thakeham meeting and finding a permanent place there for meeting for worship.

In the early-1690s a farmhouse called ‘Little Slatters’ with just over an acre of land was purchased from John Shaw for £20. The timber-framed farmhouse had been built in about 1580, and was converted into a meeting house by the removal of part of the upper storey of the south range, leaving a gallery overlooking the main meeting room. A new staircase and a tall window were inserted, as was a small Elders’ Stand. The work cost £53 and was completed by 1693. A burial ground was established alongside.

The meeting was discontinued in 1791 but was re-established in 1874 (the building, and its Meeting, had come to be known as ‘Blue Idol’ from at least 1869). Improvements in the later-C19 included inserting new heating, whilst the north range of the building became a caretaker’s house that was extended in 1893. The building was in poor condition when three Young Friends camps were held in 1919, 1920 and 1923 to make repairs. The caretaker's house in the north range was used as a guest-house from 1923 and was further extended in 1934-1935 to the design of noted Quaker architect Hubert Lidbetter. Late-C20 improvements include the further extension of the guest-house, which is now let as a private dwelling. In 2013-2015 repairs to the roof and the timber framing of the meeting house were completed under the instruction of Simon Dyson of HMDW Architects.

The attached burial ground is now closed for burials, but the detached Quaker burial ground about 350m to the north-west is still in use.

William Penn (1644-1718) was a Quaker leader and founder of Pennsylvania. Born in London, he travelled in Europe after his education at Christ Church, Oxford, and from 1664 studied law at Lincoln’s Inn, London. He attended a Quaker meeting in Cork, Ireland, in 1667 whilst on family business. During the 1670s he became associated with economically-powerful Quaker merchants, and was the leading spokesman for religious toleration when presenting evidence on recusancy laws to a Parliamentary committee. He experienced imprisonment but was able to proselytise for Quakerism across Europe and forged a close relationship with George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Together they developed Quaker philosophy which included Penn’s statement of rules for Quaker behaviour entitled ‘No Cross, No Crown’. Penn wrote numerous other important tracts and, in furthering the Quaker cause at parliamentary level, became a court politician of some influence with Charles II. He gained the Pennsylvania Charter in 1681, enabling him to establish an American colony for dissenters as a refuge from religious persecution - albeit with significant economic advantages to European interests in lands of the Indigenous population including the Lenne Lenape. Penn was at the height of his political career in the 1680s, directing his energies towards achieving an Act of Parliament for religious toleration. Whilst this came in the form of the 1689 Act of Toleration, Penn’s influence waned with the fall of James II and the accession of William and Mary. Although he was politically rehabilitated, his later years were affected by poor health. He died in 1718 and was buried in the Quaker burial ground at Jordans, Buckinghamshire.

Hubert Lidbetter (1885-1966) was a prolific and distinguished Quaker architect. Born in Dublin, he was articled to Henry Higginson of Carlisle before working in various architectural practices including that of Frederick Rowntree. Lidbetter established his own practice in 1918 and in 1923 won the design competition for Friends House, London (1925-1927, Grade II). He became Surveyor to Six Weeks Meeting in 1935 (concerned with Quaker property in Greater London) and was RIBA Vice-President in 1942-1943. As well as private houses, office buildings and commissions for other Christian denominations, Lidbetter was responsible for the design of at least 15 new Quaker meeting houses including, with his son, those at Watford (1953), Brentwood (1957), and Croydon (1956, Grade II). These designs show some influence of Modernism but were more typically neo-Georgian in style. He was involved in the restoration and alteration of numerous older meeting houses including Hertford (Grade I), Blue Idol (Grade II*), Horsham (Grade II) and Amersham (Grade II*) and he published on Quaker architecture, including the first book devoted to the meeting house as an architectural genre, ‘The Friends Meeting House’ (1961).

Reasons for Listing

Blue Idol Quaker Meeting House, situated on Oldhouse Lane, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an historic survivor of a late-C17 Quaker meeting house adapted from a farmhouse of about 1580 and retaining original fabric;
* the main meeting house retains its essential historic form and character;
* the vernacular architectural style typifies the Quaker preference for modest buildings for worship and evidences the development of the meeting house type;
* the plan form of the main meeting house and historic fabric preserved in the interior, including the Elders’ Stand and gallery, provide evidence for the division of space and internal arrangements typical for earlier Quaker meeting houses.

Historic interest:

* for its close and evidenced association with William Penn (1644-1718), leading Quaker advocate instrumental in the formation of Quakerism and founder of Pennsylvania, who played a role in establishing Quaker meetings at Blue Idol;
* standing in the attached Quaker burial ground, which includes the grave of William Penn’s daughter Letitia Aubrey, and in close proximity to the detached Quaker burial ground to the north-west.

Group value:

* with the Grade II-listed Blue Idol Stable.

External Links

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