Edgbaston Quaker Meeting House

A Quaker Meeting House of 1893, designed by William Henman.

MATERIALS: the building is of brick with stone dressings, under slate roofs.

PLAN: the building is roughly L-plan, with the main meeting room orientated north west-south east and the smaller meeting room adjacent, and an ancillary corridor and the main entrance to the east.

EXTERIOR: the building is characterised by the tall sections of the building which house the meeting rooms, and the lower ancillary and entrance range. The main entrance is at an angle, housed in a pedimented stone portico with a date stone showing '1893' and carved acanthus leaf detailing. The doorway has a deep, moulded arch, with low pilasters and engaged columns to either side, also with acanthus detailing. The double oak door has raised and fielded panels and brass fittings. The range beyond has windows in stone surrounds and dentilled eaves.

The two meeting rooms stand behind this lower range; the main meeting room has a gable facing south-east with an open pediment and Venetian window in stone surround. The gable for the smaller meeting room faces south-west and has the same treatment. The sides of the meetings rooms have further windows; some with flat-headed surrounds, further Venetian windows, and some with small pedimented surrounds.

INTERIOR: the main entrance opens into a small lobby with the main corridor beyond, all with terrazo flooring. There are timber panelled doors and tongue and groove panelling throughout. The smaller meeting room has an exposed timber roof structure with carved detailing to the trusses.

The main meeting room is larger with a similar roof structure of four bays. There is classical-style plasterwork around the walls, with pilasters, an entablature and a central pedimented feature along the rear wall. There are arched mouldings around the windows; these have timber surrounds and the surrounds to the Venetian windows and square, but sit within the arched plaster mouldings.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: there are two pairs of gate posts with timber gates giving access to the plot. The gate posts are of rusticated brick. The pair to the south has ornately carved stone caps; the pair to the east has lost its caps. The gates are timber with open panels along the top, with decorative iron grilles.