19th century Friends Meeting House at Brook Street (EHER 29375)

The meeting house was completed late in 1806. The architect was Martin Howard, a Friend and member of the meeting. It was recorded in 2014 and determined to have high aesthetic and communal value.

June 2014. Building survey. The meeting house was completed late in 1806. In 1848 a small extension was built beside the entrance. This was demolished in 1985–6, when a new and larger extension was built in its place. The architect was Martin Howard, a Friend and member of the meeting. A large part of the brick wall to the street was demolished to provide access and later rebuilt. In November 1993, the timber sill-beam or sole-piece on the elevation towards the burial ground was repaired and in 1996 the burial ground was landscaped. In 2007, the architect James Boutwood made some alterations to the 1980s extension: the dividing wall between the two small ground floor rooms was removed, and a new inner west wall constructed to alleviate problems with dampness (the outer floor level is higher to the west). In 2008, the burial ground was landscaped to convert it to a wildlife garden with a small gravelled patio. The street elevation faces approximately south. The main meeting house of 1806 is an oblong timber-framed building on a brick plinth with a hipped roof of handmade clay tiles. To the south is an extension of 1985-6 (by Martin Howard). This comprises a two-storey structure of rendered concrete blocks with a half-hipped roof towards the road and a flat-roofed entrance block with a brick-faced base which links the former to the meeting house. The half-hipped wing has two sash windows on the ground floor, with one sash to the attic. The entrance block has two small-paned fixed windows on either side of a four-panelled door. The meeting house has a high level window on the south elevation, lighting the lobby. The east elevation has three 8-over-8 paned sashes, and a two-leaf door under a corbelled hood. The entrance link contains toilet facilities as well as a panelled door with a pilaster surround into the historic meeting house. This is divided into a smaller room and the main meeting room by a timber screen with sliding sash panels (still in working order) and a central door. In both rooms the floor is of woodblock. The main meeting room has a flat ceiling, a horizontal pine dado and fixed wall benches on three sides. Of the elders’ and ministers’ stand at the north wall only the dais, the back panels and the railings with turned terminal balusters are left. The two-storey extension of the 1980s contains one ground-floor room with a kitchen range, with attic storage above (not seen). The burial ground lies to the east of the meeting house. It is enclosed by brick walls and contains burials from 1806. The older gravestones are lined up along the north wall. The only standing headstones are two rows near the entrance. The last burial took place in 1953 and the burial ground is no longer used for burials, only for the burial of caskets of ashes and the scattering of ashes. A burial plan of 1930 shows 88 burials; there is apparently no up-to-date burial plan. The small shed shown on the 1930 plan no longer exists. The burial ground was landscaped in 2008 which created a slightly elevated gravelled platform for outdoor seating just outside the meeting house. Most of the burial ground is maintained as a wildlife garden and only one path is mown around its circumference. There are several conifers just inside the boundary wall to the street. <1> See also: <2> <3>