Thirsk Quaker Meeting House and Quaker Cottage

Quaker Meeting House and Quaker Cottage

A Quaker meeting house and cottage built in 1799, with alterations dating from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The building is constructed of pinkish brown brick beneath a Welsh slate roof with grey ridge tiles. It is rectangular in plan, aligned north-east to south-west, with the meeting house set end-on to Kirkgate and accessed via a narrow passageway from the street on its south-eastern side.

The main structure is a tall single-storey six-bay rectangular block with plain rendered gable verges and slightly projecting side verges, drained by cast-iron rainwater goods. The westernmost bay now functions as an integral two-storey cottage, accessed by a mid-20th century two-storey extension that obscures the western bays of the south-east elevation.

The south-east elevation features four high-set sash windows beneath flat brick arches, set above a rendered lean-to porch and cloakroom with a felt-clad roof. The lean-to contains an offset recessed doorway and is lit by three four-light timber sliding sash windows with painted stone sills. A similar window appears in the north-east elevation, flanked by a fire exit door from the meeting house. The north-west elevation is largely blank and partly obscured by the adjacent cottage at 26 Kirkgate; it contains one three-light window under the eaves and a small single-storey lean-to at the north-east corner with a projecting chimney breast. The north-east gable holds a plain square glass panel in the attic, a pair of square four-light sashes at first-floor level, and two eight-light sash windows at ground floor. The south-west gable displays four two-over-two rectangular sash windows with exposed sash boxes and a square four-light Yorkshire sash attic window. A cast-iron stench pipe is attached to the south-west corner. A ridge stack serving the cottage rises above the roof line where cottage and meeting house join. The north-west wall, abutting the listed Grade II properties at 26 and 28 Kirkgate, rises above the verge to form a low parapet capped with flat coping stones; the gutter behind drains into a faceted storm box on the gable wall. A Bakelite General Post Office telephone insulation pot is affixed to a bracket at the south-west corner.

Inside, the lean-to porch provides toilets flanking the entrance lobby. The meeting house contains a wide entrance hall with a kitchen to the north-west. The main meeting room is accessed from the hall on the north-east side; a secondary meeting room lies to the south-west. The main meeting room is plain with painted plastered walls and a low inserted ceiling. The secondary meeting room features an early-20th century panelled partition separating it from the hall, with evidence of the former gallery visible above the south-east windows where the ceiling slopes. The north-west wall is fitted with a number of early-20th century panelled and built-in cupboards. The Quaker Cottage occupies the south-western bay across two floors and the attic; its internal arrangements are not documented.