Great Bardfield Quaker Meeting House

The Great Bardfield Quaker Meeting House is a building of 1806, with a later extension added in 1986. The main meeting house is a single-storey timber-framed structure built on a brick plinth and covered with a roof of handmade clay tiles. The 1986 extension is constructed of rendered concrete blocks on a brick-faced base.

The building has an oblong plan. The meeting house was originally built within the grounds of Buck’s House (a Grade II listed building). The main, east-facing elevation of the 1806 building includes three eight-over-eight paned sash windows and a two-leaf door sheltered by a corbelled hood. A high-level window is located on the south elevation.

The 1986 extension consists of a two-storey structure with a half-hipped roof facing the street, and a flat-roofed entrance block with a brick-faced base connecting it to the original meeting house. The half-hipped wing contains two sash windows on the ground floor and one sash window to the attic. The entrance link has two small-paned fixed windows flanking a four-panelled door.

Internally, the 1806 meeting house is split into a main meeting room and a smaller room by a timber screen incorporating sliding sash panels and a central door. Both rooms have woodblock floors. The main meeting room features a flat ceiling, a horizontal pine dado, and fixed wall benches on three sides. Only parts of the elders’ and ministers’ stand remain, including the dais, back panels, and railings with turned balusters. A panelled door, framed by a pilaster surround, provides access from the entrance link into the historic meeting house.

The 1986 extension houses a ground-floor room containing a kitchen range, with attic storage above, while the entrance link provides toilet facilities.