Bury St Edmunds Quaker Meeting House

Quaker Meeting House, Bury St Edmunds

This timber-framed meeting house was built in 1750, with principal alterations carried out in 1791 and 1871. It was extended in 2007-2008 to a design by Modece Architects.

The main meeting house and attached Margaret Kemp Room are rendered, with white Suffolk brick facing to the principal east front of the main meeting room. Both have tile roofs. The rectangular two-storey meeting house contains, from south to north, a reception area with library space and gallery staircase opening into a full-height meeting room. The Margaret Kemp Room to the rear is rectangular on plan. A glazed corridor, L-shaped in plan, links a single-storey oblong garden room extension to the meeting house south and west walls.

The east elevation forms the principal façade, approached through the Quaker burial ground from St John's Street. It is faced in white Suffolk brick laid to Flemish bond with plain pilasters to the corners, arranged as a symmetrical composition of three bays. The central bay contains a Venetian window: the central light is under a semi-circular brick arch whilst the two narrow outer lights are under flat gauged arches with a moulded cornice. The upper panes of the outer lights comprise pivoted windows. A six-over-nine sash window sits in each of the two side bays in plain openings under flat gauged arches. The remaining elevations are rendered. The north elevation is blind. The west elevation is largely obscured by the Margaret Kemp Room and glazed link corridor of 2007-2008. The south elevation is obscured at ground level by the glazed corridor and garden room extension; the gallery in the upper storey is lit by a centrally-placed window. The Margaret Kemp Room is lit by sash windows in its west and south walls. The meeting house and Margaret Kemp Room roofs are hipped; the link corridor and garden roofs are flat.

Inside, the main entrance is at the east end of the glazed corridor and lobby of 2007-2008. The meeting house is divided into three principal spaces. South of the main meeting room, a double-leaf door provides access to the library on the left and gallery staircase on the right. The library is lit by a small fixed single-light internal window. The gallery above is open to the main meeting room and has a panelled front carrying a hand-rail.

A further double-leaf door with six-pane door lights in the upper panels opens through a panelled screen from the library into the full-height main meeting room. A low dado and fixed bench occupy the west wall, whilst the Elders' stand spans the full width of the north wall. The stand consists of two ranks of fixed benches with panelled backs. The rear bench is accessed by steps at the west and east ends, with curved handrails to the short flights serving the front bench and a straight handrail for the upper bench. The ceiling is flat. The Margaret Kemp Room is accessed via a door in the northern end of the meeting room west wall, and alternatively through the glazed link corridor to the south. It has a timber dado, ramped to the north and south walls.

The 2007-2008 extension includes a garden room, kitchen, toilets, and storage space.