Spiceland Quaker Meeting House and Former Cartshed

Spiceland Quaker Meeting House and Former Cartshed

This Grade II* listed Quaker meeting house was built in 1815 on the site of a late 17th-century meeting house. It incorporates former caretaker's accommodation and has undergone repairs and alterations in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. A lean-to extension of probable mid-19th-century date and small late 20th-century additions are attached to the main building. To the north-east stands a former cartshed of pre-1840 date.

The meeting house is constructed of local stone rubble beneath a hipped slate roof, with brick chimneys in the west elevation and at the west end of the rear elevation. The building has a rectangular footprint with small 20th-century additions on the north and south sides of the western lean-to, and another on the north elevation of the main building. Internally, the layout comprises a large meeting room to the east and, to the west, a small former meeting room that has been incorporated into the domestic accommodation since the late 20th century. A first-floor gallery occupies the west end.

The principal south-facing elevation has four bays. The entrance is a segmental arch containing a pair of timber, three-panel doors, each with raised and field upper panels and a plain, slightly-recessed lower panel. These were repaired in 2014. Above the doorway is a semi-circular arched niche with a stone plaque inscribed: BUILT IN 1670./ REBUILT/ 1815, though the original date is incorrect. To the left is a tall, round-headed sash window with small panes and marginal lights, dating from 2003. Two matching windows stand to the right, with another in the east elevation; all are early 21st-century replacements. The rear elevation contains a square-headed, multi-paned window and a stone tablet inscribed: DANIEL HENSON BUILDER 1815. A small modern lean-to addition with two small windows is also present. The west end features a single-storey lean-to with a late 20th-century gabled entrance porch on its south side and a small lean-to extension to the north. The west elevation of the lean-to has two casement windows, and two casements appear at first-floor level in the west wall of the main building.

The interior is simple and unadorned. Entrance doors open onto a small lobby beneath the gallery, leading to the large meeting room and, to the left, the former small meeting room—now subdivided as residential accommodation. The large meeting room has a modern timber floor, plain plastered walls, a flat plaster ceiling, and a chandelier that may be original. Windows feature early 21st-century internal timber shutters. At the east end are two tiers of bench seating with steps and ramped handrails with slender balusters accessing the upper tier, which has panelled back and front with a balustraded rail. The first-floor gallery at the west end has a panelled front that breaks forward at either end. The partition wall beneath the gallery, separating the large meeting room from the former small meeting room, is finished with raised and fielded panelling and vertical-sliding shutters. Unfixed wooden benches provide additional seating. The roof timbers include king-post principals.

The former cartshed is built of cob and stone rubble beneath a thatched roof. The east end has been partially rebuilt in brick with a roof of metal corrugated sheeting. The south elevation is open-fronted with the roof carried on timber uprights. The eastern third has been encased in brick and contains a late 20th-century door and a casement window. The open-fronted portion has principal, tie-beam rafters, a single row of purlins, and common rafters. A late 20th-century timber building providing additional meeting space stands to the north-east.