Friends Meeting House, 49 Hutton Road, Shenfield (EHER 80049)

Friends (Quaker) Meeting House constructed in 1957, and extended with the addition of an adjoining schoolroom in 1960.

June 2014. Statement of significance. The land for this Quaker meeting house was purchased in 1955 for £1,000 and the meeting house was constructed in 1957, funded by the proceeds of the sale of the old meeting house in Chelmsford. The architects were Hubert Lidbetter and his son H. Martin. (Pevsner and Gawne attribute the building to Hubert (1885–1966), while Butler attributes it to H. Martin Lidbetter (1914–92).) In 1959, the original architects returned to design a small classroom beside the recessed entrance (drawings are signed ‘H. & H.M. Lidbetter’), completed in 1960. <1> See also <2> Information from NRHE data transfer. The building has medium heritage significance as a typical example of a post-war meeting house designed in the domestic tradition by the eminent Quaker architect Hubert Lidbetter and his son. Evidential value: The meeting house and the site have low evidential value as a modern building constructed in 1957, extended in 1959-60. The site was formerly part of the site of Brook Farm, dating back to at least the 1870s and may have related archaeological potential. Historical value: The meeting house has medium historical value, as a relatively recent building typical of the small, plain, domestic-style meeting houses built by Hubert Lidbetter (and his son) in the post-war years. It has strong associative value with the architects. Aesthetic value: The meeting house is modest and small-scale and like most Quaker meeting houses, is a building of simplicity. Decoration is reduced to lettering, brickwork and internal arches. The building is well-designed and in its use of materials typical for the period. It has medium aesthetic value. Communal value: The building's primary use is as a Quaker meeting house but is also rented out to local community groups. Due to these uses, the building has symbolic, social and spiritual value, all of which lend it high communal value. Information from OASIS Online Form. <1>