The Former Quaker Meeting House

The Former Quaker Meeting House, located in Broadmead, Bristol, was built between 1747 and 1749. Designed by George Tully, stonework details were designed and supplied by Thomas Paty, who also acted as the contractor. It is constructed of render with limestone dressings and has a leaded roof covered with hipped Welsh slate, topped with a Delabole slate lantern.

This mid-Georgian style building is square and open in plan. The two-storey, three-window front is symmetrical, featuring a plat band and a moulded, coped parapet that is ramped at the corners. A prominent central doorcase contains a triple-keyed, moulded architrave inscribed with the date 1747, alongside consoles supporting a pediment and a two-leaf, eight-panel door. Segmental-arched surrounds with sill blocks frame the flanking four/eight-pane sashes, while the first floor has three taller eight/eight-pane sashes. The side elevations are similarly designed, each with a four-window range and lacking doorways. The square lantern has sashes on each face.

The interior features a pedimented inner porch with pilasters and panelled side doors, leading to a three-by-three bay auditorium. Doric columns stand on high octagonal plinths, articulating the space. There are panelled galleries on three sides between the columns, with keyed, semicircular-arched doorways from the lobby leading to steps up to the galleries. At the west end, a former preacher’s desk faced a dado and entablature, with stair rails at each end featuring turned balusters and square newels. The central, square lantern is crowned with a coved ceiling.

Remaining fittings include seating in the galleries. The Quaker community had established itself on the site from 1670. The interior, described as exhibiting ‘noble simplicity,’ was restored circa 1960 and subsequently adapted with the insertion of offices. The building’s ambitious design demonstrates clear influence from Wesley’s New Rooms.