Croydon Quaker Meeting House

Croydon Quaker Meeting House

This is a Quaker Meeting House built in 1956 by H & HM Lidbetter for the Croydon Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, designed in a broadly Arts and Crafts style.

The building is constructed of yellow stock brick laid in Flemish bond, with vertical tile-hanging to the dormer windows and pantiles to the steeply pitched roof, which has tiled coping to the gables. The window openings are mainly flat-arched with brick-on-end lintels and tiled cills. Each opening contains mullioned or mullioned and transomed timber frames with small-paned metal casements and fixed lights. Tall rectangular brick stacks with inset horizontal panels stand at the junction of the two ranges on both the eastern and western sides. The building retains some of its original cast-iron gutters and pipes with dated rainwater heads.

The building stands on a north-south alignment and is attached to the Adult School Hall by twin covered ways with swept tiled roofs resting on plain circular concrete piers, enclosing a courtyard. It has a T-plan, with a three-bay north range set on a north-south alignment containing the full-height meeting room to the north, with the entrance lobby and stair. The marginally higher south range, set on a west-east alignment, contains the ancillary spaces and former caretaker's flat.

The principal eastern entrance is in the northern range at the junction of the two ranges, protected by a catslide porch with slightly swept eaves supported on two circular concrete columns. The porch is now enclosed by glazed timber doors. Above it are dormer windows set into the roof at first and second floor levels. To the north, the east and west walls of the meeting room step up above the eaves to accommodate pairs of large twelve-light windows with larger casement sections at the bottom. The north gable end has a single smaller window with a cambered arch, which originally had timber shutters now removed. Above this are three ventilation slits, the central one being taller. On the west elevation, the wall steps up to accommodate a nine-light window lighting the stair. Plain doorways give access to the north end of the meeting room to west and east. The roof to the gable ends of the south range has raked eaves with tiled kneelers and corbelled brickwork beneath. Each end has three square ground-floor windows with a central rectangular window above, and above that a window with a cambered arch. The gable above contains three ventilation slits as on the north elevation. The ground floor of the south elevation is sheltered by a lean-to canopy connected with those of the covered ways. Beneath this the openings are asymmetrical, with narrow doorways to the east and centre with a window between, and a tripartite window to the west. Above, the fenestration is symmetrical; the central bay has a narrow stair window with a horizontal window above breaking through the eaves. To either side are eight-light horizontal windows with dormers above. On the north elevation of the south range, in the spaces to the sides of the north range, dormer windows are nestled against the stacks.

The interior features an oculus in the south wall of the porch giving a view into the tea room. At the rear of the porch are paired door openings separated by a brick pier with convex detailing to the front; the original paired glazed oak double doors survive with brass pull handles. In the south wall by the entrance is an alcove for a notice-board. The main public space centres on the entrance lobby, with the stair rising from the north-west corner and a wide passageway and seating area leading to the south. The walls in this area are of unpainted brick and the original parquet floor remains throughout the ground floor. The wide low space of the entrance lobby is spanned by two lateral beams supported on brick pilasters, framing the opening to the meeting room to the north and the passageway to the south. The southern pilasters are angled, as are the walls of the embrasure holding the double doors to the meeting room; these angled walls emphasise the sense of circulation within the space. To either side of the meeting room's glazed double doors is a small window for use by a doorkeeper, charged with looking out for late-comers and facilitating their entrance to the Meeting for Worship. The meeting room is a lofty space with tall windows set rather high, providing ample light without offering distraction. The windows retain their original secondary glazing for sound as well as temperature insulation. The lower part of the walls is clad in simple unpainted panelling incorporating radiators, with plastered walls above. To the north, a fixed bench on a shallow dais represents a ministers'/elders' bench, a historicist feature at this date. A fixed bench also runs along the south wall to either side of the entrance, turning the corners to west and east. Set high in the wall above the entrance are two small openings, now blocked, possibly originally intended to provide a view from the landing above. The wide open-well stair has a brick balustrade pierced by the omission of headers, with square brick newels with concrete caps. Within the south range, beyond the central passageway, the fitting out is modest, with solid boarded doors and tiled window cills. The central passageway gives access to the tea room to the east, which retains a simple timber fire-surround now filled with slate tiles; a hatch in the south wall connects with the kitchen. Glazed double doors from the passage give access to the service area, with walls to either side pierced by a row of glass bricks. The kitchen to the east has been recently re-fitted, as have the WCs to the west. On the first floor there is a large room to the east and another to the west designed for community use; both have false ceilings, and that to the west retains a plain moulded fire-surround. To the north, above the porch, is a small office also with a plain moulded fire-surround. A secondary stair rises at the south end of the building around a dumb waiter. On the second floor is a flat originally intended for a caretaker; this was not inspected, but photographs indicate that the area does not retain significant historic features.