Friends Meeting House, Stourbridge

​You could have driven past it a thousand times and never knew it was there, but it’s right alongside the busy Ring Road, a little haven of peace.  It’s the Quaker Meeting House, just yards from the
Enville Street exit. Read on for information about this lovely building.

The Meeting House is almost unique in the Black Country as a building over 300 years old which
retains its original use in little-altered premises on land measured and defined in a lease dating
from 1689.  On 8 October that year, Ambrose Crowley, a local ironmaster, leased the land to the
Religious Society of Friends (commonly called Quakers) and certified with a group of them “that
the houses and buildings following are set apart for public worship, viz newly erected edifice in
Stourbridge containing three bays within a certain yard walled in.”  This yard, now an attractive
garden, was once the burying ground for the Meeting.  Three hundred years after the lease was
signed – to the day – the Revd Brian Crowley, a descendant of Ambrose, planed a tree in the
garden and was presented with 300 peppercorns for the presumably outstanding rent.

Since 1689 a weekly Meeting for Worship has been held in this Grade II Listed Building, which has
recently been restored with great care for the original materials and character.  The old window
and door catches came from Ambrose’s forge.  The interior is plain and simple in the Quaker
tradition.  Original wall panelling and a fixed bench run round the meeting room;  at the west end
is a raised bench where the Elders once sat, facing the rest of the meeting.  Today everyone sits in
a circle as equals, on Victorian benches and modern chairs.  
At the east end is a gallery with folding shutters to close it off when it is not needed.  The present
small library, which has first editions of George Fox’s Journal (1694) and William Penn’s collected
Works (1726) was once the entrance;  the present entrance hall, common room and children’s
room are modern editions.  The building has been adapted for people with mobility problems.  It is
sometimes used during the week by local groups as well as Quakers.   It is open to visitors for two
days during Heritage Open Days in September each year.  There is information about the Quakers
and this Meeting’s current activities and interests on FaceBook:  search for “Stourbridge Quakers”. 

Quaker Meeting for Worship is held at 10.00 am every Sunday, with a Children’s Meeting on the
last Sunday of the month.  Everyone is welcome.  The Meeting House is not normally open to view
at other times, and anyone wishing to see it should email [email protected] or
telephone Diana Lampen (01384 377518) or Dave Morris (01384 9183800 to see if arrangements
can be made.  Local organisations wondering if they could use the building should contact Diana.

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Inside the Meeting Room