Crawley Old Town: EIGHTEEN PICTURES: Friends Meeting House, Ifield

Monday, 3 April 2017

EIGHTEEN PICTURES: Friends Meeting House, Ifield

Built in 1676 and used continuously since then by the Quaker community for worship, The Ifield Friends Meeting House is one of the oldest purpose-built Friends meeting houses in the world. It is classified by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, a status given to buildings of "exceptional interest" and national importance.

In 1676, land and money bequeathed by a local blacksmith, Robert Robinson, was used to build a dedicated, purpose-built meeting house for the Quaker community. It has been continuously used for worship since then, and is one of the oldest Friends meeting houses still in existence anywhere in the world.

The meeting house has ashlar walls made of local sandstone. The roof slates are also made of a local material—Horsham stone. The frontage has two bays with half-hipped gable roofs. The entrance doorway is centrally placed between the bays and still has its original rustication at the quoins, although the door itself is modern. The lintel of the doorway has "1676" carved into it, and some of the quoin blocks also have 17th-century dates and initials. There is another (off-centre) doorway on the rear face of the building. This has one window at ground-floor level, whereas the frontage has one in each bay with wooden mullions and transoms. There are smaller windows at first-floor level.

Extensions and additions have been made since the 17th century. Many of the internal fittings are made of pine and were installed in the 18th century. A burial ground was also added. By 1851 the capacity was 162, although use of the meeting house had declined from a peak of nearly 100 worshippers earlier in the century.