Littlehampton Friends Meeting House

Littlehampton Friends Meeting House
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House
	The meeting house from the south
	Littlehampton Friends Meeting House Location in West Sussex
	50°48′35″N0°32′20″W / 50.8097°N 0.5390°W Coordinates: 50°48′35″N0°32′20″W / 50.8097°N 0.5390°W
Location	23 Church Street, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN17 5EL
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Quaker
Website	www.littlehamptonquakers.org.uk/
History
Status	Meeting house
Founded	1835 (as Penny School);; 1965 (as Quaker meeting house)
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II
Designated	21 August 1975
Completed	1836

Last updated March 17, 2021

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.

History

The town of Littlehampton, at the estuary where the River Arun meets the English Channel, developed as a small port and seaside resort in the 19th century. By 1861, its population was 2,436, and "pleasant lodgings" were available fronting the beach, which was connected to the opposite bank of the river by ferries. St Mary's Church, the Anglican parish church, was rebuilt in 1826.^[1]

Education in the growing town was initially provided by private individuals. In 1835, a Mrs Welch founded a "Penny School"—apparently a type of Dame school—on the north side of Church Street.^[2] The L-shaped building had a single schoolroom and an attached schoolmaster's house at the east end.^[3] About 65 pupils were typically on the roll. The school, which was run by Dissenters ^[2] rather than the Established Church, was completed and opened in 1836.^[3]^[4]

After the school fell out of use, it passed into religious use for the first time when Plymouth Brethren acquired it.^[3] Meanwhile, Quakers started meeting in Littlehampton in 1952.^[5] They sought a permanent meeting house, and bought the former school in 1965^[3] (by which stage Brethren were meeting at Argyll Hall elsewhere in the town).^[5] Membership of the Littlehampton Friends Meeting was recorded as 20 people in 1985,^[5] and it is now described as a "large" meeting by the Religious Society of Friends themselves.^[6] Weekly meetings take place on Sunday mornings.^[6]

Littlehampton Friends Meeting House was designated a Grade II Listed building on 21 August 1975.^[7]

Architecture

The former school is L-shaped, with a long south wing and a projecting east wing. The façade has flint cobbles with red-brick dressings and grey-brick quoins.^[3]^[4]^[7] The main wing, of three bays, has two pointed-arched windows with inset pairs of lancet and a similar arched entrance on the left side in a projecting bay.^[4]^[7] The east wing has a full-height canted bay window facing south, set below a stuccoed gable with the painted legend friends' meeting house.^[7] This two-storey section was originally the schoolmaster's accommodation.^[3]

The English Heritage listing recognises the meeting house's group value with the adjacent buildings at 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 Church Street.^[7] This is defined as "the extent to which the exterior contributes to the architectural or historic interest of any group of buildings of which [a listed building] forms part".^[8] Numbers 11, 13 and 15 are a terrace of cottages, two of which were built in the 18th century but were given new façades in the 1830s when the other was built.^[9] Numbers 7 and 9, now two cottages but originally a single farmhouse, date from 1700 and have a flint and red-brick façade.^[10]

Notes

Related Research Articles

Zion Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the village of Newick in Lewes District, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. The tiny building was opened for worship in 1834 in a part of Sussex which was a hotbed of Protestant Nonconformism, and remained as one of three places of worship in the small Wealden village until 2001, when it was sold for conversion to houses. The chapel is protected as a Grade II listed building.

Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Founded in 1817 by members of the congregation of an older Baptist chapel in the ancient town, it was extended several times in the 19th century as attendances grew during Hastings' period of rapid growth as a seaside resort. It was closed and converted into a house in the late 20th century, but still stands in a prominent position in Hastings Old Town. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Shover's Green Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in the hamlet of Shover's Green in East Sussex, England. Shover's Green is in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex, and stands on the road between the market town of Wadhurst and the village of Ticehurst in the neighbouring district of Rother. Founded by Strict Baptists from nearby Burwash in 1816, the chapel—one of three Baptist places of worship in Wadhurst parish—continued to serve the community until the 1970s, when it was sold for conversion to a house. Its design is similar to that of the nearby Rehoboth Chapel at Pell Green. The chapel is protected as a Grade II Listed building.

Providence Chapel is a former independent Calvinistic place of worship in the village of Hadlow Down in Wealden, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Although built in 1849, the chapel can trace its origins to the founding in 1824 of an Independent place of worship in the village. The new building was in religious use for nearly 150 years, but storm damage led to its closure and conversion into a private dwelling in 1993—although its former graveyard survives. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

Rye Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Rye, an ancient hilltop town in Rother, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Built in the 18th century on the site of a decaying Quaker meeting house, it served Baptists in the town for many years until a new chapel was constructed nearby. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

Southover General Baptist Chapel is a former Baptist place of worship in the ancient village of Southover, now part of the town and district of Lewes, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Founded in 1741 as the first Baptist place of worship in the area, it attracted a congregation of General Baptists whose theological views gradually moved towards Unitarianism. This led to their union with the members of the nearby Westgate Chapel, after which the flint and brick building housed other congregations and secular groups before its conversion to a house. The building is protected as a Grade II by English Heritage.

Jarvis Hall is a former Nonconformist chapel in the village of Steyning, in the Horsham district of the English county of West Sussex. Since its construction in 1835, the Classical-style building has been used by four different Nonconformist Christian denominations: the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, Wesleyan Methodists, the Salvation Army and Plymouth Brethren. The Brethren occupied it last and for the longest time. After about 150 years of religious use, it was sold for residential conversion. English Heritage has listed the former chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Billingshurst Unitarian Chapel is a place of worship in Billingshurst in the English county of West Sussex. The cottage-like building was erected in 1754 for General Baptists, hence its original name of the Billingshurst General Baptist Chapel, but the congregation moved towards Unitarian beliefs in the 19th century, and still maintain these. It is a member of General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, the umbrella body for British Unitarians.

The present Angmering Baptist Church and its predecessor building, known as Church of Christ, are respectively the current and former Baptist places of worship in Angmering, a village in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Baptist worship in the area can be traced back to 1846, when the "strangely towered" Church of Christ was founded and built. After the Gothic-style chapel became unsuitable for modern requirements, the congregation acquired a nearby barn and converted it into a new church, after which the old building was sold for residential conversion. The church has been designated a Grade II listed building.

Trinity Congregational Church, later known as Union Chapel, is a former place of worship for Congregationalists and Independent Christians in Arundel, an ancient town in the Arun district of West Sussex, England. Protestant Nonconformism has always been strong in the town, and the chapel's founding congregation emerged in the 1780s. After worshipping elsewhere in the town, they founded the present building in the 1830s and remained for many years. Former pastors included the poet George MacDonald. Robert Abraham's distinctive neo-Norman/Romanesque Revival building was converted into a market in the 1980s and has been renamed Nineveh House. The church is a Grade II Listed building.

Horsham Unitarian Church is a Unitarian chapel in Horsham in the English county of West Sussex. It was founded in 1719 to serve the large Baptist population of the ancient market town of Horsham—home of radical preacher Matthew Caffyn—and the surrounding area. The chapel's congregation moved towards Unitarian beliefs in the 19th century, but the simple brick building continued to serve worshippers drawn from a wide area of Sussex. It is one of several places of worship which continue to represent Horsham's centuries-old tradition of Protestant Nonconformism, and is the town's second oldest surviving religious building—only St Mary's, the parish church, predates it. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Ditchling Unitarian Chapel is a Unitarian chapel in Ditchling, a village in the English county of East Sussex. A congregation of General Baptists began to meet in the 17th century in the village, which was a local centre for Protestant Nonconformist worship, and by the time the present simple Vernacular-style chapel was constructed in 1740 a large proportion of the population held Baptist beliefs. Along with other General Baptist chapels in Sussex, the congregation moved towards Unitarian views in the mid-18th century; this caused a schism which resulted in a new chapel being formed at nearby Wivelsfield. The character of the Ditchling chapel was wholly Unitarian by 1800, and it has continued under various names since then. People associated with the chapel include William Hale White, Henry Acton, Adrian Boult—who was married there—and G. K. Chesterton. The chapel is set back from Ditchling's main street and has an adjoining house and graveyard, all of which contribute to the character of the conservation area which covers the centre of Ditchling village. English Heritage has listed the chapel at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

Zoar Strict Baptist Chapel is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the hamlet of Lower Dicker in the English county of East Sussex. Founded in 1837 and originally known as The Dicker Chapel, the "large and impressive" Classical/Georgian-style building stands back from a main road in a rural part of East Sussex. The 800-capacity building included a schoolroom and stables when built, and various links exist between people and pastors associated with the chapel and other Strict Baptist and Calvinistic causes in the county, which is "particularly well endowed with [such] chapels".

Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclectic range of buildings in the growing town of Brighton and its neighbour Hove. Their work encompassed new residential, commercial, industrial and civic buildings, shopping arcades, churches, schools, cinemas and pubs, and alterations to hotels and other buildings. Later reconstituted as Clayton, Black & Daviel, the company designed some churches in the postwar period.

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.

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.

Yapton Free Church is an Evangelical church in the village of Yapton in West Sussex, England. The "pretty flint building" dates from 1861, when it was built for a group of Congregational worshippers who had been active in the area for several years. Growth in membership during the 20th century meant that by the 1990s some services and activities were held in larger premises elsewhere, but the chapel remains registered as a place of worship. The church is denominationally independent but is associated with a worldwide cross-denomination network of churches called Partners in Harvest. The church building has been listed at Grade II by Historic England for its architectural and historical importance.

References

↑ Black & Black 2000 , pp. 603–604.
1 2 Lewis 2009 , p. 204.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Stell 2002 , p. 352.
1 2 3 Elleray 2004 , p. 39.
1 2 3 Lewis 2009 , p. 202.
1 2 "Littlehampton Local Meeting". Religious Society of Friends. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
1 2 3 4 5 Historic England (2011). "No 23 (Friends' Meeting House), Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027811)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.
↑ "Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. March 2010. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
↑ Historic England (2011). "No 11 (Fuschia Cottage) No 13 (Regency Cottage) and No 15, Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027810)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.
↑ Historic England (2011). "Nos 7 and 9, Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027809)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.

Bibliography

Black, Adam; Black, Charles (2000) [1861]. Black's 1861 Guide to Sussex (Facsimile of original publication). Black's Guides: South-Eastern Counties of England. Bakewell: Country Books. ISBN 1-898941-21-1.
Elleray, D. Robert (2004). Sussex Places of Worship. Worthing: Optimus Books. ISBN 0-9533132-7-1.
Lewis, C.P., ed. (2009). A History of the County of Sussex: Volume 5 Part 2. Littlehampton and District (Arundel Rape, South-Eastern Part, comprising Poling Hundred). Victoria County History. 5 (ii). Woodbridge: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-1-904356-19-6.
Stell, Christopher (2002). Nonconformist Chapels and Meeting-houses in Eastern England. Swindon: English Heritage. ISBN 1-873592-50-7.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Black603–604-1] Black & Black 2000 , pp. 603–604.

[VCHv5iip204-2] 1 2 Lewis 2009 , p. 204.

[Stell352-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 Stell 2002 , p. 352.

[PoW39-4] 1 2 3 Elleray 2004 , p. 39.

[VCHv5iip202-5] 1 2 3 Lewis 2009 , p. 202.

[Quaker-Littlehampton-6] 1 2 "Littlehampton Local Meeting". Religious Society of Friends. 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.

[NHLE-1027811-7] 1 2 3 4 5 Historic England (2011). "No 23 (Friends' Meeting House), Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027811)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.

[DCMS-Principles-8] "Principles of Selection for Listing Buildings" (PDF). Department for Culture, Media and Sport. March 2010. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2013.

[NHLE-1027810-9] Historic England (2011). "No 11 (Fuschia Cottage) No 13 (Regency Cottage) and No 15, Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027810)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.

[NHLE-1027809-10] Historic England (2011). "Nos 7 and 9, Church Street (north side), Littlehampton, Arun, West Sussex (1027809)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 26 May 2011.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]