Friends Meeting House, Kendal

Last updated

Kendal Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Kendal, Cumbria, in north-western England.

Contents

The Meeting House Friends' Meeting House, New Road, Kendal - geograph.org.uk - 168042.jpg
The Meeting House

There have been Quakers in Kendal since the 17th century when the town was visited by George Fox. The present meeting house was purpose-built in 1816 to replace the previous building used by local Quakers. Attendance at Sunday worship in 1816 numbered several hundred. [1]

Architecture

The limestone building was designed by local architect Francis Webster. [2]

Plaque commemorating Stramongate School Stramongate School (9110307846).jpg
Plaque commemorating Stramongate School

In the 1930s Stramongate School, a Quaker institution opposite the meeting house, closed. The building had housed Sunday school classes and it was decided to move them to the Meeting House, where Webster's Georgian design was modified to provide classroom accommodation on the 1st floor. [1]

Quaker Tapestry

The building is the home of the Quaker Tapestry illustrating the history of Quakerism from the 17th century to the present day. Like the Bayeux Tapestry, the panels are embroidered rather than being tapestry in the strict sense of the word.

The tapestry opened in 1994 as a visitor attraction. It received a "Hidden Gem" award for 2020-21 from VisitEngland. [3]

Conservation

The meeting house has been designated a Grade II* listed building. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Quaker Tapestry consists of 77 panels illustrating the history of Quakerism from the 17th century to the present day. The idea of Quaker Anne Wynn-Wilson, the tapestry has a permanent home at the Friends Meeting House at Kendal, Cumbria, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swarthmoor Hall</span>

Swarthmoor Hall is a mansion at Swarthmoor, in the Furness area of Cumbria, North West England. Furness was formerly part of Lancashire. The Hall was home to Thomas and Margaret Fell, the latter an important player in the founding of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) movement in the 17th century. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. It remains in use today as a Quaker retreat house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sedbergh</span> Town in Cumbria, England

Sedbergh is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about 10 miles (16 km) east of Kendal, 28 miles (45 km) north of Lancaster and about 10 miles (16 km) north of Kirkby Lonsdale, just within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It stands at the foot of Howgill Fells, on the north bank of the River Rawthey, which joins the River Lune 2 miles (3 km) below the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Hampshire State House</span> State capitol building of the U.S. state of New Hampshire

The New Hampshire State House, located in Concord at 107 North Main Street, is the state capitol building of New Hampshire. The capitol houses the New Hampshire General Court, Governor, and Executive Council. The building was constructed on a block framed by Park Street to the north, Main Street to the east, Capitol Street to the south, and North State Street to the west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levens Hall</span> Manor house in England

Levens Hall is a manor house in the Kent valley, near the village of Levens and 5 miles (9 km) south of Kendal in Cumbria, Northern England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brigflatts Meeting House</span>

Brigflatts Meeting House or Briggflatts Meeting House is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), near Sedbergh, Cumbria, in north-western England. Built in 1675, it is the second oldest Friends Meeting House in England. It has been listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England since March 1954. It is the subject of a twelve-line poem titled "At Briggflatts meetinghouse" by British modernist poet Basil Bunting. Bunting's poem was written in 1975 for the 300th anniversary of the meeting house's construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osmotherley Friends Meeting House</span>

Osmotherley Friends Meeting House is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), situated in the village of Osmotherley in North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Ayton Friends' School</span>

Great Ayton Friends' School (1841–1997) in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire, England, was an independent, co-educational, agricultural boarding school, run by the Religious Society of Friends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbot Hall Art Gallery</span> Grade I listed art museum in Kendal, United Kingdom

Abbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the old Abbot’s Hall, roughly where the museum is today. Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries this was where the Abbot or his representative would stay when visiting from the mother house of St Mary's Abbey, York. The architect is unknown. During the early twentieth century the Grade I listed building was dilapidated and has been restored as an art gallery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendals</span> Former department store in Manchester

Kendals is the previous name of a department store in Manchester, England. Since 2005, the store now operates as House of Fraser. The store had previously been known during its operation as Kendal Milne, Kendal, Milne & Co, Kendal, Milne & Faulkner, Harrods or Watts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ifield Friends Meeting House</span>

The Ifield Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house in the Ifield neighbourhood of Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. Built in 1676 and used continuously since then by the Quaker community for worship, it is one of the oldest purpose-built Friends meeting houses in the world. It is classified by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, a status given to buildings of "exceptional interest" and national importance. An adjoining 15th-century cottage is listed separately at Grade II*, and a mounting block in front of the buildings also has a separate listing at Grade II. Together, these structures represent three of the 100 listed buildings and structures in Crawley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Littlehampton Friends Meeting House</span> Church in West Sussex , United Kingdom

Littlehampton Friends Meeting House is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) place of worship in the town of Littlehampton, part of the Arun district of West Sussex, England. A Quaker community has worshipped in the seaside town since the 1960s, when they acquired a former Penny School building constructed in the early 19th century. The L-shaped, flint-faced structure, consisting of schoolrooms and a schoolmaster's house, has been converted into a place of worship at which weekly meetings take place. The house is a Grade II Listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of Holy Trinity and St George, Kendal</span> Church in Cumbria, England

The Church of Holy Trinity and St George is in New Road, Kendal, Cumbria, England. It is an active Roman Catholic parish church in the diocese of Lancaster. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. The church was founded by the parish priest, Thomas Wilkinson, and designed by local architect George Webster. Architectural historians regard the church as the best of the three designed by Webster in the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friends' Institute buildings</span>

The Friends Institute Buildings are a former Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) meeting house, community facilities, and associated structures, at 220, Moseley Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, England. The various parts are now used as an Art therapy centre, and the Moseley Road Community Centre. In September 2014, the buildings were granted Grade II* designation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meadrow Unitarian Chapel</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

Meadrow Unitarian Chapel is a Unitarian chapel in the Farncombe area of Godalming, Surrey, England. It is part of the London District and South Eastern Provincial Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, one of 16 districts within the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella organisation for British Unitarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godalming Friends Meeting House</span> Church in Surrey , United Kingdom

Godalming Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house in the ancient town of Godalming in the English county of Surrey. One of many Nonconformist places of worship in the town, it dates from 1748 but houses a congregation whose roots go back nearly a century earlier. Decline set in during the 19th century and the meeting house passed out of Quaker use for nearly 60 years, but in 1926 the cause was reactivated and since then an unbroken history of Quaker worship has been maintained. Many improvements were carried out in the 20th century to the simple brick-built meeting house, which is Grade II-listed in view of its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Patrick</span> Village and parish in Cumbria, England

Preston Patrick is a village and civil parish in South Lakeland, Cumbria, England. It has junction 36 of the M6 motorway in its south west corner and extends north east on both sides of the motorway until just beyond the B2564 road. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 438, decreasing at the 2011 census to 426.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Webster</span>

Francis Webster (1767–1827) was an architect who worked in Kendal, Westmorland, England. He has been described as "the first to introduce the public profession of architecture into Kendal".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendal Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Kendal, Cumbria, England

The Town Hall is a municipal building in Highgate, Kendal, Cumbria. It is a Grade II listed building. It serves as the headquarters of Kendal Town Council and also forms part of the complex of buildings which serve as the headquarters of South Lakeland District Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howgills, Letchworth Garden City</span> Historic building in Letchworth in Hertfordshire

Howgills in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, is a Grade II listed building on the Register of Historic England in use as a Meeting House for the Society of Friends (Quakers).

References

  1. 1 2 "A brief history of Kendal Meeting House" . Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "Friends Meeting House (Grade II*) (1319001)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  3. Nicholson, Savannah (5 November 2021). "The Quaker Tapestry Museum in Kendal recognised by VisitEngland". Westmorland Gazette. Retrieved 12 January 2023.

Coordinates: 54°19′43″N2°44′35″W / 54.32849°N 2.74297°W / 54.32849; -2.74297