Stourbridge Quaker Meeting House

Stourbridge Quaker Meeting House, 1689

This Grade II* listed meeting house is constructed from brick with a tiled roof. The building is rectangular on plan, orientated east-west in line with Scott's Road, and stands at the north-eastern corner of a walled enclosure that was formerly a burial ground. Modern extensions have been added to the east side and south-eastern corner, which are excluded from the listing.

The building is a simple, single-storey structure with a pitched roof. The north elevation, facing Scott's Road, is blank; render covers two window openings that were blocked in the 18th century. The west gable, which appears to have been rebuilt in stretcher bond, is also blank and has a projecting chimney stack that has been truncated. The south elevation faces the former burial ground and is rendered, with the brick dentil course at the eaves left exposed. It features three windows with tripartite leaded casements in metal frames, the detailing of which is subtly different from one another, and a dormer window that lights the internal gallery.

The interior comprises a lofty meeting hall with a gallery at the east end. The walls are rendered with tongue and groove dado panelling and attached benches. The east end is enclosed by a folding panelled-timber screen, one panel of which serves as a doorway. The original flooring has been replaced with timber boards. A raised elder's stand occupies the west end of the hall, replacing a former fireplace. The hall is lit by three windows on the south elevation; two northern windows and a southern doorway have been blocked. The gallery, originally used for women's meetings, is supported on modern timber stanchions and features a moulded handrail and splat balusters. One of the two principal roof trusses forms the frame for a second folding screen that can be closed to separate the gallery from the main hall. In the south-eastern corner of the gallery is a brick-lined fireplace with a chamfered stone lintel, a replica grate and hood. A solid panelled balustrade encloses the stair void. The gallery is lit by a dormer on the south and a window in the east gable end. The second principal roof truss is exposed above the main hall; it comprises deep timber rafters, tie beam and king post flanked by two narrower timber posts, with two raking struts rising from the collar in the loft space and two ranks of deep purlins.

To the east of the main hall is a small panelled ante-room now used as a library, with a small built-in cupboard in the south-west corner, a doorway in the south-east corner, and a double-doorway in the gable end. A panelled staircase with a winder stair occupies the north-east corner, with an under-stair cupboard with panelled door. The building retains a good collection of historic strap hinges and door and window furniture.

A brick-lined cellar underlies the central section of the building, featuring a series of segmental-arched alcoves in the walls and a blocked doorway in the north-east corner.

The walls to the former burial ground are constructed in a mixture of stretcher bond and English garden wall bond with shaped brick copings. Small sections have been rebuilt in modern materials, and a pedestrian gateway has been inserted into the northern stretch.