The Development of a Victorian Building

The Friends Meeting House was built in 1852. The building was a single large hall, with a wooden gallery which sloped down to a balcony overlooking the main meeting area. The space beneath the balcony was divided from the main room by a panelled timber partition, similar in style to the screen in front of the Elders’ bench. The partition contained an upper row of removeable panels, to allow communication between the two ground floor areas.

The three large eastern and two southern windows are probably original, but whether they were initially installed with sliding sash windows or the current pivot windows is uncertain. At this point there was no window in the western wall.

Heating was provided by a stove / boiler under the gallery stairs, with a chimney partly built into the outer wall, and with its own outside doorway. But at some point, the stove was moved to the main hall with a pipe along the wall connecting to the chimney.

First developments
The current porch, and the old toilets to the rear, appear to have been added within 30 years of the Meeting House being built. The toilets were upgraded to water closets with drainage connected into the nearby hospital drains in 1939. Electric light was also installed in 1939. At the north end of the west wall was a storeroom, and an open canopy roof extending up to the back door were added. In 1946 a large window was added to the western wall to add light to the room.

Adaptions for the Methodist school 1954-1967
In 1954 Derbyshire County Council leased the building as additional classroom space for the Methodist school which necessitated significant changes. The gallery was removed and the building was divided just to the south side of the main entrance doors by a large timber and glass concertina style moveable partition. At the same time the building was also rewired, and a gravity circulation heating system of 4” cast iron pipes and cast iron radiators was installed, with a solid fuel boiler in the outside coal store.

Adjustments to meet the needs of a thriving Meeting 1967-2001
With the lease with Derbyshire County Council ending in 1967 and the size of meeting increasing, further adaptions and changes took place to the Meeting House.

Between 1967-70 the north end of the building was extended with indoor toilets (built under the old canopy to the rear), and a new kitchen area. In 1971 the old solid fuel boiler was replaced by gas.

Following the earlier removal of the gallery, the kitchen and cloakrooms were separated off by screens, but without any ceilings. So in 1989-90, the folding partition was replaced with a solid wall, and the front entrance lobby and rear corridor were provided with ceilings. A new kitchen ran along the central partition, separated from the small meeting room by a partition.

Further renovations 2006-2007
In 2003, pressure of numbers prompted plans for a more extensive renovation, and this became a possibility after a substantial legacy from Winifred Walters.

The various lean-to extensions to the rear of the FMH were demolished and replaced with a store-room leading off the main room, and a stairway to a new upstairs room. While the main meeting room was left largely unchanged, the whole of the north end was stripped and remodelled, with a larger entrance lobby, new kitchen, and more spacious accessible toilets.