Description

ULVERSTON

SD27NE MEETING HOUSE LANE
626-1/1/91 (North side)
02/03/50 Friends' Meeting House
(Formerly Listed as:
MEETING HOUSE LANE
Friends' Meeting House)
(Formerly Listed as:
MEETING HOUSE LANE
Stable Block at Friends' Meeting
House)

II*

Quaker meeting house. Dated 1688; interior altered 1814; sash
windows added 1829; gable wall slated 1843. Roughcast with
some sandstone ashlar dressings and some slatehanging, with
slate roof.
To the left of the single-storey gabled porch are 3 windows
with plain reveals and projecting sills lighting the main
meeting room. They were inserted in 1829 but now have C20
casements with glazing bars replacing the original glazing bar
sashes. To the right of the porch there are 2 windows at both
ground-floor and gallery level lighting the former womens'
meeting house. All are mullioned and of 2 lights with leaded
glazing. Those on the ground floor are cyma-moulded and those
on the 1st floor are chamfered and have hoods. The wall of the
porch is cut back where it overlaps the left-hand window. The
porch has a sandstone plinth and moulded doorway which has a
lintel with false 4-centred arch. The lintel has a re-cut
inscription: 'EX DONO G.F. [George Fox] 1688'. The inner
doorway has a moulded stone surround and studded plank doors.
The left-hand gable wall has slatehanging which returns to
cover part of the front wall. Projecting from the right-hand
gable wall is a chimney stack with offsets.
Adjoining to the right is the former stable block, now
converted into a meeting room. It has a lower roof which
projects forwards at the left to form a canopy over a doorway.
A wide doorway towards the right has plain reveals and is now
filled by a glazed screen.
INTERIOR: the main meeting room has a high ceiling with
exposed hardwood tie beams. The timber screen at the east end
of the meeting room dates from 1814 and has top-hung shutters
opening at both ground-floor and gallery level. Between the
passageway and the east room there are similar shutters. Both
this room and the passageway have stone-flagged floors, and
the room has 2 axial main ceiling beams and a fireplace with

the remains of moulded jambs.
HISTORICAL NOTE: George Fox bought the property at Swarthmoor
in 1687 from two of Judge Fell's daughters and passed it on to
the Friends with instructions on how to build the meeting
house, which was registered as a place of worship in 1689.
The former stable block was listed on 20/06/72.
(Butler DM: Quaker Meeting Houses of the Lake Counties:
London: 1978-: 123-5).

Listing NGR: SD2837876875

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17543783

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)