A Friends meeting house is a

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Ch ...

of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ornamentation are usually avoided. When Quakers speak of a "church," it generally refers to the persons of the worshipping community, rather than the building itself.

History

Generally, Quakers believe that meeting for worship can occur in any place - not just in a designated meeting house. Quakers have quoted to support this: "Where two or three meet together in my name, there

s God S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''. Histor ...

in the midst of them." Therefore, theoretically, meeting for worship may be held anywhere. Before the advent of meeting houses,

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

met for worship outdoors, in homes, or in local buildings. In the late 17th century, Welsh Quaker Richard Davies (1635-1708) described his experience meeting Friends outdoors:

I went to visit ouryoung men, my former companions in profession of religion. Two of them were convinced uakers..we agreed to meet together; but none of us had a house of his own to meet in. We determined therefore to meet on a hill in a common, as near as we could for the convenience of each other, we living some miles apart. There we met in silence, to the wonder of the country. When the rain and the weather beat upon us on one side of the hill, we went to the other side. We were not free to go into any neighbours' enclosures, for they were so blind, dark, and ignorant, that they looked upon us as witches, and would go away from us, some crossing themselves with their hands about their foreheads and faces.

In 1662, John Bowne was arrested by

Peter Stuyvesant Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Ne ...

for holding Quaker worship at his 1661 house in

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial and retail area, and the i ...

, then part of

New Netherland New Netherland ( nl, Nieuw Nederland; la, Novum Belgium or ) was a 17th-century colonial province of the Dutch Republic that was located on the east coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva ...

. Bowne was deported to Holland and placed before a panel from the

Dutch West India Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ...

. After claiming that the Dutch colony had reached a religious-freedom agreement with his community, Bowne was set free. Two years later in 1664, the British took control of New Amsterdam and promised more religious freedom for colonists. Perhaps due to the growth of the

, or due to discrimination, there arose a need for buildings to house meetings. In 1670, Friends in England built the first worship-purposed meeting house. The Hertford Meeting House is located in 48 Railway Street, Hertford, East Hertfordshire. This is the oldest Quaker building in the world, still in use for worship meetings. It was thrice visited by Quaker founder

George Fox George Fox (July 1624 – 13 January 1691) was an English Dissenter, who was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers or Friends. The son of a Leicestershire weaver, he lived in times of social upheaval and ...

. In December 1672, while traveling in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, Fox stated that his group "had a large meeting in the justice's barn, for he justice'shouse could not hold the company." This shows that holding meeting for worship at home was common in areas where a meeting house was not available. In 1682, the Third Haven Meeting House in Talbot County, Maryland was built. This is considered the oldest surviving Friends meeting house in America. Some Friends meeting houses were adapted from existing structures, but most were purpose-built. The 1765

Brigflatts Meeting House Brigflatts Meeting House or Briggflatts Meeting House is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), near Sedbergh, Cumbria, in north-western England. Built in 1675, it is the second oldest Friends Meeting House in ...

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. ...

, England is an example of the latter. The hallmark of a meeting house is extreme simplicity and the absence of any liturgical symbols. More specifically, though, the defining characteristics of the Quaker meetinghouse are simplicity, equality, community, and peace. Though never explicitly written or spoken about, these tenets (or “Testimonies”) of Quakerism were the basic, and only, guidelines for building a meetinghouse, as was seen through the continuity of the use of Testimonies within meetinghouse design. While meetinghouse design evolved over time to a standardization of the double-cell structure without explicit guidelines for building, the meeting house's reflective architecture revealed a deeper meaning. The meeting house design manifested and enhanced Quaker Testimonies and the cultivation of the Inner Light that was essential to Friends. Quakers easily moved from one place of meeting to another, but when given the opportunity to design and construct their own place of meeting, Friends infused their Testimonies in the planning, design, and construction of the building. Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Colora Meeting House CecilCo MD interior

Description

Quaker meeting houses generally lack spires, steeples, and other architectural decorations to embrace simplicity. Colonial American Quakers built meeting houses that resembled residential homes to display the building's role in the community, avoiding "churchly" ornamentation. While imprisoned for his beliefs in 1665, Quaker founder

had a conversation wherein he explained "church" terminology and derided steeples: The meeting house/church distinction is shared by a number of other non-conformist Christian denominations, including Unitarians, Christadelphians,

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(Mormons), and

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the R ...

s. Meeting Houses built in a traditional style usually had two meeting rooms: one for the main meeting for worship, and another where the women's business meeting may be held (often referred to as the women's meeting room). Meeting houses of this style usually have a ''minister's gallery'' at one end of the meeting room, where traditionally those ''traveling in the ministry'' would have sat, with an ''elders bench'' immediately in front of this. Wooden benches facing this occupy the rest of the room, often with a gallery for extra seating. Meeting houses of this style usually have high windows so that worshippers sitting in meeting for worship cannot see outside. Meeting houses built in a more modern design will usually consist of: a large meeting room, smaller rooms for committees, children's classes, etc., a kitchen and toilets. The meeting room itself is a place for Friends to withdraw from the world. The windows are set sufficiently high that worshippers will not be distracted by the activities of the world's people outside, or in some cases they provide a view into the meeting house garden. The seating was originally long, hard and wooden. Today it is usually separate chairs but the layout remains the same – a square or rectangle facing inwards to a central table.

Examples

Australia

* Friends Meeting House, Adelaide

France

* The historic meeting house of Congénies (

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

), since 1788

Ireland

* Quaker Meetinghouse, Moate,

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

* Friends Meeting House, 4–5

Eustace Street Eustace Street is a street in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, Ireland. Location Eustace Street runs from Wellington Quay (near Millennium Bridge) to Dame Street, with junctions with Essex Street East and Curved Street. At the halfway poin ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

United States

Abington Friends Meeting House Abington Friends Meeting House is a Quaker meeting house located in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. The original meeting house was established from 1698 to 1699, with land and a 100 pounds sterling donated by John Barnes. In 1784, a separate school bu ...

Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Montgomery County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the List of counties in Pennsylvania, third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the List of the most populous cou ...

* Alloways Creek Friends Meetinghouse, Hancock's Bridge, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Salem County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

* Amesbury Friends Meeting House *

Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse Appoquinimink Friends Meetinghouse, also known as the Odessa Friends Meetinghouse, is a very small but historic Quaker meetinghouse on Main Street in Odessa, Delaware. It was built in 1785 by David Wilson and added to the National Register o ...

, Odessa, Delaware * Arch Street Friends Meeting House,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

* Arney's Mount Friends Meetinghouse and Burial Ground,

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

* Beekman Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery, LaGrangeville, New York * Benjaminville Friends Meeting House, McLean County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

* Birmingham Orthodox Meeting House, Birmingham Township,

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West Eng ...

* John Bowne House, Flushing, New York, 1661 * Bradford Friends Meetinghouse (Marshallton Meeting House), Marshallton, West Bradford Township,

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53 ...

* Brooklyn Friends Meetinghouse and School, Downtown Brooklyn,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Caln Meeting House Caln Meeting House is a historic Quaker meeting house located at 901 Caln Meeting House Road, near Coatesville in Caln Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1726, and is a one-story, tan fieldstone Fieldstone is a nat ...

, Caln Township,

* Camden Friends Meetinghouse, Camden, Delaware *

Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse Catawissa Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meetinghouse at South and 3rd Streets in Catawissa, Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Penns ...

, Catawissa,

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from p ...

Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse, also known as Centre Meeting of Religious Society of Friends, is a historic Quaker meeting house and school located on Center Meeting Road in Centerville, Delaware, Centerville, New Castle County, Delaware. It was ...

, Centerville,

New Castle County, Delaware New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of th ...

* Chappaqua Friends Meeting House,

Westchester County, NY Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...

built in 1754 *

Chichester Friends Meetinghouse Chichester Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Quaker meeting house at 611 Meetinghouse Road near Boothwyn, in Upper Chichester Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. This area, near Chester, was one of the earliest areas settled by Quakers in ...

, near

Boothwyn Boothwyn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,933 at the 2010 census, down from 5,206 at the 2000 census. The census estimation for population circa 2019 is 6,115. History The ...

Upper Chichester Township Upper Chichester Township is a civil township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,738 at the 2010 census. History The Lenni Lenape Indians were the earliest occupants of Upper Chichester. They erected several ...

, Delaware County, Pennsylvania * Clinton Corners Friends Church, Clinton Corners,

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

* Colora Meetinghouse, Colora,

Cecil County Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

* Conanicut Friends Meetinghouse, Conanicut Island, Jamestown,

Newport County, Rhode Island Newport County is one of five counties located in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2020 census, the population was 85,643. It is also one of the seven regions of Rhode Island. The county was created in 1703. Like all of the counties ...

Concord Friends Meetinghouse Concord Friends Meetinghouse is a historic meeting house on Old Concord Road in Concordville, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The meeting was first organized sometime before 1697, as the sixth Quaker meeting in what was then Chester County. In 1 ...

, Concordville, Delaware County, Pennsylvania * Concord Hicksite Friends Meeting House, east of Colerain, Belmont County,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

* Cornwall Friends Meeting House * Creek Meeting House and Friends' Cemetery, Clinton Corners,

* Crum Elbow Meeting House and Cemetery, East Park,

Deer Creek Friends Meetinghouse Deer Creek Friends Meetinghouse is a historic Friends meeting house located at Darlington, Harford County, Maryland. It is a one-story fieldstone structure, six bays long on the south, four bays on the north, and three bays wide. It was constru ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a ...

Deep River Friends Meeting House and Cemetery Deep River Friends Meeting House and Cemetery is a historic Quaker (Society of Friends) meeting house and cemetery located at 5300 W. Wendover Avenue in High Point, Guilford County, North Carolina. The meeting house was built in 1874–1875, a ...

High Point, North Carolina High Point is a city in the Piedmont Triad region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. Most of the city is in Guilford County, with parts extending into Randolph, Davidson, and Forsyth counties. High Point is North Carolina's only city tha ...

* Dover, NH Friends Meetinghouse,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

, Strafford County,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

* East Hoosac Quaker Meetinghouse, Adams,

Berkshire County Berkshire County (pronounced ) is a county on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,026. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield. The county was founded ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

East Nottingham Friends Meetinghouse East Nottingham Meetinghouse, or Brick Meetinghouse, is a historic Friends meeting house located at Rising Sun, Cecil County, Maryland. It consists of three different sections: the Flemish bond brick section is the oldest, having been built in ...

or Brick Meetinghouse, Rising Sun,

Cecil County, Maryland Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

* Easton Friends North Meetinghouse, Middle Falls in Washington County, New York * Evesham Friends Meeting House, Mount Laurel Township,

Burlington County, New Jersey Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

* Frankford Friends Meeting House, Frankford neighborhood,

Frankford Monthly Meeting
Frankford neighborhood,

Free Quaker Meetinghouse The Free Quaker Meetinghouse is a historic Free Quaker meeting house at the southeast corner of 5th and Arch Streets in the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1783, and is a plain 2 -sto ...

Independence National Historical Park Independence National Historical Park is a federally protected historic district in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National P ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Friends Meetinghouse (Uxbridge, Massachusetts) The Friends Meetinghouse is an historic Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) located at the junction of Routes 146A (Quaker Highway) and 98 (Aldrich Street) in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. On January 24, 1974, it wa ...

* Friends Meetinghouse, Wilmington, Delaware * Friends Meeting House and Cemetery, Little Compton, Rhode Island * Great Friends Meeting House * Green Plain Monthly Meetinghouse, near South Charleston, Clark County,

* Greenfield Preparative Meeting House (Catskill Meeting House), Grahamsville,

Sullivan County, New York Sullivan County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 78,624. The county seat is Monticello. The county's name honors Major General John Sullivan, who was labeled at the time as a hero in the A ...

* Haverford Friends Meeting, Haverford, Pennsylvania * Hockessin Friends Meetinghouse, Hockessin,

New Castle County New Castle County is the northernmost of the three counties of the U.S. state of Delaware (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex). As of the 2020 census, the population was 570,719, making it the most populous county in Delaware, with nearly 60% of the ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

* Honey Creek Friends' Meetinghouse,

New Providence, Iowa New Providence is a small city in Hardin County, Iowa, United States. The population was 236 at the time of the 2020 census. History New Providence was laid out in 1855. New Providence was struck by a tornado in 1860 and much of its business di ...

* Hopewell Meeting House, Clear Brook, near

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

* Jericho Friends Meeting House Complex,

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Isla ...

* Little Egg Harbor Friends Meeting House, Tuckerton, New Jersey *

Little Falls Meetinghouse The Little Falls Meetinghouse is a historic Friends meeting house located at Fallston, Harford County, Maryland, United States. It was constructed in 1843 and is a sprawling one-story fieldstone structure with shallow-pitched gable roof and a ...

, Fallston,

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

* Live Oak Friends Meeting House,

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

* Meeting House of the Friends Meeting of Washington, Washington, DC *

Merion Friends Meeting House The Merion Friends Meeting House is an active and historic Quaker meeting house at 615 Montgomery Avenue in Merion Station, Pennsylvania. Completed about 1715, it is the second oldest Friends meeting house in the United States (after the Third ...

, Merion Station, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County,

* Mill Creek Friends Meetinghouse, Newark,

Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery The Nine Partners Meeting House and Cemetery is located at the junction of NY state highway 343 and Church Street, in the village of Millbrook, New York, United States. The meeting house, the third one on the site, was built by a group of Frien ...

, Millbrook,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Oblong Friends Meeting House The Oblong Friends Meeting House is a mid-18th century Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, in the town of Pawling, Dutchess County, New York, United States listed in the National Register of ...

, in the hamlet of Quaker Hill, in the town of Pawling,

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

* Old Kennett Meetinghouse, Kennett Township near Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania * Old Town Friends' Meetinghouse also known as Aisquith Street Meeting, Baltimore Meeting or Patapsco,

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

* Pembroke Friends Meetinghouse, Pembroke, Plymouth County, Massachusetts * Portsmouth Friends Meetinghouse Parsonage and Cemetery * Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Hooker Avenue),

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeeps ...

* Poughkeepsie Meeting House (Montgomery Street),

Race Street Friends Meetinghouse The Race Street Meetinghouse is an historic and still active Quaker meetinghouse at 1515 Cherry Street at the corner of N. 15th Street in the Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Friends Center Corp.History of Friends Center. Accessed ...

* Sandy Spring Friends Meetinghouse,

Sandy Spring Sandy Spring is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Geography Sandy Spring's boundaries are roughly defined as Brooke Road and Dr. Bird Road to the north and west, Ednor Road to the south, and New Hampsh ...

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

Schuylkill Friends Meeting House Schuylkill Friends Meeting House is a Quaker meeting house located on North Whitehorse Road in the Schuylkill Township section of Chester County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. This Meeting House is 2.5 miles west of the Valley Forge Post O ...

, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania * Seaville Friends Meeting House, Seaville community, Upper Township, New Jersey,

Cape May County, New Jersey Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are ...

, this 1716–1727 meeting house is the smallest frame Quaker meeting house in the United States. *

Smith Clove Meetinghouse The Smith Clove Meeting House is a Quaker place of worship in Highland Mills, New York, United States, a short distance from NY 32 on Smith Clove Road. It is the oldest religious building in the town and village of Woodbury, dating to the begin ...

Highland Mills Highland Mills is a hamlet and former census-designated place (CDP) in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,468 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistic ...

, NY * Smithfield Friends Meeting House, Parsonage & Cemetery *

South River Friends Meetinghouse The South River Friends Meetinghouse, or Quaker Meeting House, is a historic Friends meeting house located at Lynchburg, Virginia. It was completed in 1798. It is a rubble stone structure, approximately , with walls 16 inches thick, and 12 feet ...

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mounta ...

* South Starksboro Friends Meeting House and Cemetery,

Starksboro, Vermont Starksboro is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,756 at the 2020 census. Geography Starksboro is located in the northeast corner of Addison County, along the western edge of the Green Mountains. Vermont Route ...

Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery Stony Brook Meeting House and Cemetery are historic Quaker sites located at the Stony Brook Settlement at the intersection of Princeton Pike/Mercer Road and Quaker Road in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The first Europeans to settle in the ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission ...

* Third Haven Meeting House, Easton, Talbot County, Maryland * Upper Dublin Friends Meeting House * West Grove Friends Spring Meeting House,

Alamance County, NC Alamance County (), from the North Carolina Collection's website at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved September 18, 2012. is a county in North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 171,415. Its county ...

* Whittier First Friends Church,

Whittier, California Whittier () is a city in Southern California in Los Angeles County, part of the Gateway Cities. The city had 87,306 residents as of the 2020 United States census, an increase of 1,975 from the 2010 census figure. Whittier was incorporated in ...

* Yardley Friends Meeting House,

Yardley, Pennsylvania Yardley is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Yardley borders the Delaware River and Ewing, New Jersey to its east and Lower Makefield Township to its north, west, and south. The United States Post Office assigns many addresses in Lower ...

* York Meetinghouse,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

York County, Pennsylvania York County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster ...

United Kingdom

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, near Sedbergh,

Brighton Friends Meeting House The Brighton Friends Meeting House is a Friends meeting house (Quaker place of worship) in the centre of Brighton, part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England. The building, which dates from 1805, replaced an earlier meeting ho ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East ...

Coanwood Friends Meeting House Coanwood Friends Meeting House is a redundant Quaker meeting house under the care of the Historic Chapels Trust. It stands in an isolated, sparsely populated valley south of Hadrian's Wall, in East Coanwood, about 5 miles south of the town of ...

, in an isolated, unpopulated valley south of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

, about east of the village of

Coanwood Coanwood is a village in Northumberland, England, and is part of the Parish of Haltwhistle. It is about to the south-west of Haltwhistle, on the South Tyne. Nearby is the village of Lambley. Coanwood was anciently written as Collingwood mean ...

, and about south of the town of Haltwhistle in

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

* Come-to-Good Friends Meeting House, Kea, near Truro,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, UK. It was also known as Kea Meeting House and Feock Meeting House. * Quaker Meetinghouse, Woodhouse, Sheffield, England * Godalming Friends Meeting House,

Godalming Godalming is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settlement ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

* Howgills, Letchworth Garden City,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...

* Ifield Friends Meeting House, Ifield neighbourhood of

Crawley Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

* Jordans Friends Meeting House,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Friends Meeting House * Littlehampton Friends Meeting House, Littlehampton, part of the Arun

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

, England *

Osmotherley Friends Meeting House Osmotherley Friends Meeting House is a Friends Meeting House of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), situated in the village of Osmotherley in North Yorkshire, England.GENUKI (UK and Ireland Genealogy), It is a Grade II listed building. ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by national parks, including most of the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors. It is one of four co ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Alexander, William. ''Observations on the Construction and Fitting Up of Meeting Houses &c for Public Worship: Illustrated by Plans, Sections and Description, Including One Lately Erected in the City of York, Embracing in Particular the Method of Warming and Ventilating''. York, England: the author, 1820. * Butler, David, ''The Quaker Meeting Houses of Britain'', Friends Historical Society, 1999. . * Lippincott, Horace Mather. ''Abington Friends Meeting and School: 1682–1949''. n.p.: n.p., 1949. * Rose, Harold Wickliffe. ''The Colonial Houses of Worship in America''. New York: Hastings House, Publishers, 1963.

External links

Flickr site for photographs of British Friends Meeting Houses, arranged by CountyHopewell Centre Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends "Quakers
The Hopewell Meeting House was built in 1759 to 1761 and enlarged during 1788–1791.
Haverford College
''triptych'' tri-college digital library, collection of photographs of meeting houses in the United States
Randolph Friends Meeting HouseFriends meeting houses UK search
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Meeting House 01 Quakerism Christian buildings and structures Types of church buildings Lists of Christian buildings and structures Lists of churches