A History of the Meeting

The Friends Meeting House was built in 1852, on land given by the Bowman family of Monyash, and possibly financed by the Alcard family. Friends had previously met at the Quaker Meeting House in Monyash, but numbers had grown to a sufficient level to support a new meeting in Bakewell. The first meeting was held on July 10th 1853, and meetings appear to have been well attended. The building was a single large hall, with a gallery at the north end, and a social room or possibly a women’s meeting room below it. There was a raised Elders bench at the south end.

However, the meeting dwindled and closed in 1886. During the first world war, the Meeting House was used to provide refreshment for wounded soldiers. Around 1916 the meeting was revived and the minute books start again from 1923. Attendance was low and fluctuated for many years (the Lean family doubled regular attendance when they joined in 1937) but was sustained by the Brayshaws.

In 1937 the building was leased to the Ministry of Works as an employment exchange, and from 1939 was used for recreation by prisoners of war, with Friends meeting in the pre-fab hut in the field behind.
After the war, Quakers took back possession of the Meeting House, and substantial repairs made good the damage sustained by its war use. At this time St John Ambulance took over the hut to the rear.

In 1954 the building was leased to Derbyshire County Council Local Education Authority for use as additional classroom space for the Methodist school. Outside school hours the building continued to be used by the few Friends in the Meeting at that time. Regular attendance was between one and three, and there was a notice welcoming visitors, and apologising if no Bakewell Friends were present. At times, the only Friend present was Joyce Pickard, who cycled up from Derby! However, Friends also planned to start a children’s meeting.
During the 1960s attendance increased steadily to a dozen, and in 1971 the building was renovated to provide internal toilets and a kitchen, and the old solid fuel boiler was replaced by gas. The first regular lettings started, with the newly formed Photographic club.

The mid 1980s saw increasing numbers attending, and a regular children’s class.
In 2001, pressure of steadily increasing numbers of both adults and children, along with the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act, prompted planning for a major renovation, which was finally undertaken in 2006-2007, replacing old extensions on the west side, and adding a new first floor to the northern half of the building.
Since 2007 the Meeting has continued to thrive. The meeting house is now used regularly by 15 local organisations throughout the week and represents both a spiritual home for Quakers in Bakewell and beyond and a valued community resource.