Wallingford Quaker Meeting House

Quaker Meeting House. Built in 1724, restored about 1924, and with later alterations.

MATERIALS: red and grey bricks laid to Flemish bond, flint, clay tile roof coverings.

PLAN: a single-storey single unit, rectangular on plan, with hipped roof.

EXTERIOR: the meeting house is situated in the garden to the rear of 13, Castle Street (the caretaker’s cottage), immediately to the east of the scheduled Saxon Town. It is oriented north-south, built in red and grey brick laid to Flemish bond over a low brick and flint plinth, with a brick plat band and dentilled cornice. The tall hipped roof is covered with clay tiles.

The main (east) front has a double-leaf six-panelled door with an architrave surround to the left and a six-over-six sash window to the right. The south elevation includes a six-over-six sash window to the centre. The rear (west) elevation has, from left to right, a further six-over-six sash window and, to the right, a four-panelled door with architrave surround (not aligned on the east door). The sash windows are unhorned, with thick glazing bars. The north elevation is partially obscured by an adjacent building.

INTERIOR: the meeting house interior comprises the meeting room with no ancillary spaces. The east entrance opens into the rear of the room. The south wall has a dado of vertical boarding, interrupted by the window opening, and a timber rail with hat and coat pegs. The other walls have a dado of plain horizontal boarding with fixed benches with curved armrests, except for the southern part of the west wall which houses a bookcase. The Elders’ stand to the north wall is a central ‘pulpit’ type approached up two steps to either side, with a backboard rising above the level of the dado, and curved sides to the upper fixed bench. The stand’s front, incorporating a fixed bench with armrests, carries a handrail mounted on short turned posts. The floor is of brick paviours. The plain ceiling has a centrally-placed roof hatch.