Some of the oldest and most historically important Friends meeting houses in Britain now have protected status

For almost 350 years, Quakers have been opening a gate in a brick wall in Hertford, crossing a small, peaceful courtyard, and taking a seat on wooden benches in a simple, timber-panelled room to commune silently with God.

The Quaker Meeting House in the county town of Hertfordshire is the oldest in the world still in continuous use by the Religious Society of Friends, the proper name for Quakers. The town has grown around it, now with new-build developments housing young families pushed out of London and there’s a proposal for a chain hotel to be built opposite the meeting house.

But the building, constructed in 1670, has retained much of its original character. From the outside it looks like a pair of houses; inside there is one main double-height meeting room overlooked by a gallery with removable partitions, a central oak column holding up the roof, unadorned walls and simple wooden floorboards.

On Sunday mornings, up to 20 Friends gather beneath its ancient beams for an hour. Sometimes, one or two will feel moved to stand and share a thought with the group. At the end, they shake hands and disperse. No hymns, no preaching, no minister-led prayers. From Sunday, this modest but extraordinary building will have extra protection provided by Grade I-listed status, granted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) on the advice of Historic England.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Inside the Friends’ Meeting House in Hertford. Photograph: Patricia Payne/English Heritage

It is one of 17 Quaker meeting houses across the country to be listed or upgraded by DCMS. Eleven are being listed at Grade II for the first time, five upgraded to Grade II*, and the Hertford building granted the highest status possible.

“Quaker meeting houses are precious pockets of calm in an otherwise hectic world, and I’m delighted to see their quiet simplicity celebrated through listing,” said Duncan Wilson, Historic England’s chief executive. “They are a largely unsung group of fascinating and surprisingly varied buildings that reflect the history, attitudes and ethos of the Quaker movement.”

There are about 20,000 Quakers in the UK and about 400 meeting houses, according to Ben Pink Dandelion, professor of Quaker studies at Birmingham University. “Their hallmark is silent worship, a direct encounter with the divine. They are cautious about theology, liberal and progressive.”

Quakers, who were early advocates for the abolition of slavery, are now active in social justice movements, including the recent Extinction Rebellion climate change protests and a “die-in” against nuclear weapons outside Westminster Abbey. They campaign against racism, for gender and sexual equality, and against all forms of war. They are, according to religious historian Richard Holloway, “Christianity’s conscience”.

The Religious Society of Friends was founded in the mid-17th century by George Fox, who rejected the idea that the faithful needed intermediaries to the divine. He argued that there was no need for priests or churches; each person could have a direct relationship with God. Friends refused to pay tithes, or steeple taxes, or take the oath of allegiance.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Friends’ Meeting House in Hertford now has Grade 1 listing. Photograph: Patricia Payne/English Heritage

Fox told one judge that the only authority he trembled before was God, leading the judge to scornfully dismiss him as a “quaker” – a name which stuck.

Under the 1662 Quaker Act, thousands of people were imprisoned, and many others were persecuted and even killed for their beliefs. After 27 years, the 1689 Act of Toleration heralded a new freedom of worship and Quaker meeting houses flourished.

The buildings have a distinctive functional design, without decoration and are plainly furnished. These days, rows of wooden benches have mostly been replaced with circular seating arrangements around a table on which the Bible and the book of Quaker Faith and Practice sit.

In the late 17th century, about 1% of the English population were Quakers – the equivalent of more than 650,000 people today, according to Dandelion. Now the big growth region is east Africa, where a third of the world’s Quakers live.

“In the UK, the vast majority of Quakers join as adults, attracted by a non-doctrinal religion with a strong emphasis on social justice and peace,” he said. Many were brought up in other Christian denominations but have become uneasy with organised, prescriptive and ceremonial religion. “Their fluidity and openness gives Quakers a continuing appeal. Their future is bright.”

The Hertford meeting house underwent a major and costly refurbishment in 1980, and is now in good condition, according to local Quaker Gerald Drewett. Next month, the building – which has excellent acoustics – will host a series of concerts during the Hertfordshire Festival of Music. Local Muslims use an annexe across the courtyard for Friday prayers.

But, for most of the time, it is a place enveloped in silence and simplicity. “Four walls, a roof and a place to sit – that’s all Quakers need to come together,” said Drewett.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Quaker Meeting House in Blackheath, London. Photograph: Lucy Millson-Watkins/Historic England

Hertford Hertfordshire Grade I

(upgraded from Grade II*)

The earliest surviving purpose-built Quaker house in the world, built in 1670. The meeting room, which rises to the full height of the building, is lined with timber panelling and the roof supported by a single oak column.

Pardshaw Cumbria Grade II*



(upgraded from Grade II)

Built in 1729, with a stable and school room added a little later. It is close to Pardshaw Crag, where Quakers first met for worship in the open air in the mid-17th century. The meeting house still has its original moveable wooden shuttered partition, door and benches.

Preston Patrick Cumbria newly listed at Grade II



Built in 1869, replacing an earlier meeting house. The site also contains a cottage, gig house, stable and and schoolroom block. The meeting house incorporates wooden panelling and balusters re-used from the earlier 1691 building.

Cartmel Cumbria newly listed at Grade II



Designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of the Natural History Museum who was from a Quaker family, it was built in 1859. The site also contains an unaltered gig house and stable block.

Blackheath London newly listed at Grade II



Built in 1971-2, largely from reinforced concrete, and designed by Trevor Dannatt who worked on the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank. The first floor meeting room is lit from above by a square-shaped lantern. “A lovely expression of Quaker philosophy in modern terms,” said Deborah Mays, Historic England’s head of listings advice.