Quaker Meeting House Alston

The Quaker Meeting House dates to 1732, with alterations made in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is located in the north-east corner of a burial ground enclosed by a stone boundary wall.

The building is a tall, three-bay, single-storey structure built of coursed squared rubble stone on a foundation of rounded boulders. Two distinct phases of masonry construction are visible; the lower courses date to 1732, and the finer upper courses to 1764. The south-facing main elevation overlooks the burial ground and includes a central, gabled porch built after 1848. The porch has a double door flanked by quoined stone jambs, and a re-set, flat, chamfered stone lintel dated 1732. Flanking the porch are a pair of 12-light timber sash windows, with exposed sash boxes. Two low, blocked square windows with finely tooled surrounds are positioned to the left of the porch, and a blocked two-light stone mullion window, which formerly lit the loft, is located high on the right side of the elevation.

The east gable end adjoins Front Street. The original roof outline is clearly visible in the wall fabric, and rounded stones mark the flue rising to a short, gable-end stack with a projecting drip mould. The west gable is un-fenestrated and lime-rendered, while the north elevation is largely obscured by an abutting two-storey stone building. The roof is stone flagged and drained by cast-iron guttering and down pipes.

Inside, the building comprises a larger, rectangular meeting room to the west and a smaller former women’s business room to the east, now used as an ancillary space with cupboards. The meeting room is entered from the porch and has a single window in the south wall. The walls are plastered and painted, with tongue and groove panelling to dado level on the south and west walls. The east wall consists of vertical sliding timber panels with a door leading to the ancillary space. A raised ministers’ stand occupies the west wall, with access steps on either side. The stand features horizontal panelling, and the fitted bench has turned front legs.