Wisbech Quaker Meeting House, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

Summary

Quaker meeting house. Built 1854 to the design of Algernon Peckover. Alterations and additions of 1971-1973 to the design of Cecil J Bourne.

Description

Quaker meeting house. Built 1854 to the design of Algernon Peckover. Alterations and additions of 1971-1973 to the design of Cecil J Bourne.

MATERIALS: brick with stone dressings, with slate and artificial slate roof coverings.

PLAN: L-shaped on plan, comprising the main meeting house oriented south-west to north-east (simplified below to west-east) facing onto North Brink, with an extension to the rear on the western side oriented north-west to south-east (simplified below to north-south).

EXTERIOR: the meeting house stands on North Brink, overlooking the River Nene, with railings carried on a dwarf wall to the street front. The building of 1854 has a brick plinth and a shallow brick parapet with stone coping above a moulded stone cornice. The main (south) elevation of gault brick laid to Flemish bond is in four bays comprising, from left to right, the main entrance in a moulded stone surround with a corbelled hood and, in the overdoor, the inscription FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE; then three six-over-six sash windows. The straight-headed window openings in moulded surrounds have corbelled hoods similar to the entrance way, and stone sills carried on small corbels. They light the full-height main meeting room. To the ground floor of the fourth (eastern) bay there is a small door in a plain stone surround providing access to the eastern end of the main meeting room. Above the main entrance is a stone plaque with the date 1854 carved in relief. There are three shallow dormers with casement windows in the south face of the mansard roof, aligned over the main meeting room windows below.

The east and west elevations are obscured by the adjoining buildings, except where the western gable end of the mansard roof has a small window to the south side lighting an attic room. In the eastern gable end, the pitch of the former gable roof is visible in the brickwork forming the 1970s mansard roof.

To the rear, the north-facing elevation of the meeting house comprises two bays with a casement window and French doors to the ground floor, and two casement windows to the first floor. Two dormer windows light its attic rooms. The north-facing wall of the 1970s extension includes a casement window under a segmental arch to the western side of each of its three storeys. The irregularly-fenestrated east-facing wall of the extension includes, to the ground floor, an entrance door and three casement windows (the two to the right under segmental arches), and two casement windows to the first and second floors (those to the right also under segmental arches). A small patio in front of the French doors includes a short flight of steps leading down into the garden. The rear walls are in red brick laid to stretcher bond.

The west-east oriented mansard roof to the meeting house includes a roof light to the north side, whilst the north-south oriented gable roof to the extension includes a similar roof light to the west.

INTERIOR: the meeting house’s double-leaf main entrance door leads into a narrow entrance hall. The gallery above is accessed by a staircase in the north-west corner of the hall. The hall is divided from the main meeting room to the east by a panelled pine partition with centrally-placed double-leaf doors. On the meeting room side these glazed doors are flanked by Tuscan pilasters. The panelling continues upwards to form the gallery front. A pine dado continues around the main meeting room as far as the Elders’ Stand which occupies the full extent of the east wall. The tiered Stand of two fixed benches includes a panelled front and back and is entered from the southern end. Pine benches are arranged around the main meeting room. The former small meeting room to the rear, lit by the garden French doors and a casement window, is also entered from the hall.

The private accommodation over the meeting house is accessed via a lift in the entrance hall. The ground floor of the 1970s extension comprises a kitchen and cloakrooms, with private accommodation over the two upper floors.

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.

Quakers meeting in Wisbech adapted two thatched cottages on North Brink for a meeting house. Used from 1711, a new purpose-built meeting house was constructed there in 1854 to a design by amateur architect Algernon Peckover (1803-1893). Originally, the single-storey building included the main meeting room to the south side, divided by a shuttered partition from a smaller meeting room to the north, with a gallery over the western entrance hall.

The Peckovers were a wealthy Quaker family, running the Wisbech and Lincolnshire Bank from nearby Bank House (now Peckover House, Grade I). The burial ground to the rear of the meeting house includes burials from the period 1742 to 1948, including 18 members of the Peckover family. As well as Algernon Peckover, these include his daughter Priscilla Hannah Peckover (1833-1931), a noted international peace activist and founder of the Women's Local Peace Association (the Peace Union) who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Jane Stuart (1654-1742), illegitimate daughter of James II, is also buried here. The headstones in the burial ground are Grade II-listed.

Between 1971 and 1973 the meeting house was extended to provide accommodation for four single elderly people and a warden (design by Cecil J Bourne). This involved adding an attic over the meeting house by replacing its gable roof with a mansard roof with dormers, and building an additional three-storey range to the rear. In the meeting house the shuttered partition was replaced with a brick wall, turning the small meeting room into a dining room. A new ceiling inserted over the dining room allowed an upper floor to be created on the north side. A lift was inserted into the entrance hall and the hall’s chimney breast removed. The rear elevation was remodelled, replacing sash windows lighting the former small meeting room with French doors and casement windows and introducing two windows to light the new second storey. The three-storey extension provided a ground-floor kitchen and cloakrooms, with accommodation on the two upper floors. It was at this time that the building was connected to the mains sewer and other utilities. The building works were completed using 12,000 bricks salvaged from the contemporary demolition of Lion Yard, Cambridge.

The flats were thus arranged over the older building and in the extension, later reduced from four homes to three of more equal size. Meeting for worship recommenced in 1974, when the main meeting room was refurbished. Its timber fittings were restored, and the garden was established in the burial ground. That included moving most of the headstones to the west wall of the garden. Later changes include in 2016 and 2018 the replacement of windows in the rear elevations with new double-glazed timber units.

Reasons for Listing

Wisbech Quaker Meeting House, situated on North Brink, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* the restrained neo-Classical design typifies the modest nature of Friends Meeting Houses;
* interior fittings to the meeting house including the gallery and Elders’ Stand, and the plan-form comprising entrance hall and two ground floor meeting rooms, provide evidence for the division of space and internal arrangements typical for earlier Quaker meeting houses.

Historic interest:

* a purpose-built meeting house with attached burial ground, designed by Algernon Peckover, member of a noted Quaker family;
* the meeting house is closely associated with Jane Stuart (d1742) and Priscilla Hannah Peckover (d1931), who are buried in the attached burial ground.

Group value:

* with Peckover House (Grade I) and Peckover House Garden (Grade II), the Grade II-listed tombstones in the graveyard to the rear of Number 21 (Friends Meeting House) and numerous Grade II-listed buildings on North Brink.

External Links

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.