Airton's Quaker Meeting House

Our main reason for going to Airton was to visit the Quaker Meeting House, since one of our members is a keyholder. It was built in the early 1600s, with the blessing of the landowner, as a meeting place for dissenters (Seekers), incorporating an earlier thatched roofed barn, which may have acted as a disguise, since dissenter meetings were illegal. It was certainly used as a Quaker Meeting House from the early 1650s, and it's recorded that George Fox, one of the Puritan founders of the Religious Society of Friends (aka Quakers) came here in 1652. 

In 1700, as recorded on the date stone above the door, it was purchased and endowed to the Quakers by William and Alice Ellis, who lived in the house opposite (see yesterday). They extended it, with a stables or barn and a cottage at the far end. These have been converted since, to be used as hostel accommodation and for a warden. 

The earliest burial in the tiny graveyard was that of Isabell Wilkinson in 1663. 

Inside, the Meeting House remains largely unaltered since the 17th and early 18th centuries. The large room is partitioned with an oak drop-leaf partition and a mezzanine floor above. It was originally unheated but a fireplace was added at some point and now there is some heating, though I noted that the central benches still have sheep's fleece coverings and plenty of blankets. At one time all the wood was painted over but in a fairly recent renovation the paint was stripped off. 

It is still used as a Quaker Meeting House, one of the oldest in the country, and can be hired for community use and events. Like most such places, it has a very peaceful air. Quakers don't have a creed. Their faith is shaped by shared values that underpin their behaviour and choices: to live relatively simply, in harmony with nature, the world and other people; to live ethically, truthfully, peaceably and with high integrity. Some of the most radical social changes in our society, like the abolition of slavery, have been led by Quaker reformers, who have been staunch and radical in their commitment to peace, equality and social justice.