Bridport Quaker Meeting House and water pump

Bridport Quaker Meeting House and Water Pump

This Quaker meeting house dates from at least the late 17th century and was substantially altered, enlarged or rebuilt and refitted during the 18th century, with various later alterations and additions.

The building is constructed of local Forest Marble limestone rubble brought to course with some brick, under gabled and hipped roofs of slate with ashlar copings.

The plan comprises the meeting house and an adjoining building set at right angles to the rear, which was previously the women's meeting room and now serves as a small meeting or committee room. These two buildings define the south and east sides of a small central courtyard and have an L-shaped footprint, with late 20th-century additions to the rear. The west and north sides of the courtyard are formed by the Grade II*-listed Daniel Taylor Almshouses and Caretaker's Cottage (95 and 97A South Street).

The west front facing South Street has two tall mid-20th-century rectangular windows with timber mullions and transoms and leaded panes under modern timber lintels, flanking a former central entrance that has been blocked. Beneath the left-hand window is an area of infill where a doorway once led to a staircase and the north gallery, which no longer exists. There is also evidence of some rebuilding. A passageway in 95 South Street leads into the rear courtyard.

The north elevation, facing the courtyard, has two ground-floor cross windows and two two-light casements above, all with timber frames, iron casements and lead glazing bars, probably dating to the 18th century. To the left is a single-storey entrance lobby under a catslide, with an attached modern brick boiler house. The entrance lobby has a modern timber door and, on its right return, a leaded two-light casement that lights the gallery stairs. The adjoining building, set at right angles, has one multi-pane window with glazing bars in its west elevation.

The rear east elevation of the meeting house has two first-floor casements and an attached late 20th-century lean-to extension of red brick at ground-floor level, which is linked to a late 20th-century kitchen addition by a glazed corridor of uPVC. Above the corridor, in the south elevation of the adjoining building, is an opening with a 20th-century window.

The interior features a gallery staircase located in the entrance lobby with stick balusters and a plain handrail. Beyond the stairs are a pair of doors with raised and fielded panels and L-hinges, which lead into the meeting room. This is a rectangular space with plain plastered walls and a flat ceiling; the exposed ends of the principal rafters are visible at the north end. The windows in the north and east walls have wrought-iron catches and stays, with secondary glazing added. There is no fixed furniture. At the east end, carried on two timber posts, is a gallery with a timber front of raised and fielded panelling and modern timber rails above. The space beneath has been enclosed by a modern partition to provide cupboards within the hallway. A gallery on the north side of the room was removed in the mid-20th century.

The adjoining building, which serves as a smaller meeting or committee room, retains several four-panel doors and a blocked fireplace with a 19th-century surround and bracketed mantel.

Within the rear courtyard stands a water pump dated 1814. It is encased with painted, raised and fielded panels with an iron circular spout and handle. The upper panel was renewed in the early 20th century, but an undated historic photograph shows a small door in the upper part of the casing. In front of the pump is a stone trough (not fixed), and below is a stone-lined channel that crosses the courtyard to a drain.