Littlehampton Friends Meeting House
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| Littlehampton Friends Meeting House | |
|---|---|
.JPG) The meeting house from the south | |
  Littlehampton Friends Meeting House Location in West Sussex | |
| 50°48′35″N 0°32′20″W / 50.8097°N 0.5390°W | |
| Location | 23 Church Street, Littlehampton, West Sussex BN17 5EL |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Quaker |
| Website | www.littlehamptonquakers.org.uk/ |
| History | |
| Status | Meeting house |
| Founded | 1835 (as Penny School); 1965 (as Quaker meeting house) |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade II |
| Designated | 21 August 1975 |
| Completed | 1836 |
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House is a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) place of worship in the town of Littlehampton, part of the Arun district of West Sussex, England. A Quaker community has worshipped in the seaside town since the 1960s, when they acquired a former Penny School building constructed in the early 19th century. The L-shaped, flint-faced structure, consisting of schoolrooms and a schoolmaster's house, has been converted into a place of worship at which weekly meetings take place. The house is a Grade II Listed building.
The town of Littlehampton, at the estuary where the River Arun meets the English Channel, developed as a small port and seaside resort in the 19th century. By 1861, its population was 2,436, and "pleasant lodgings" were available fronting the beach, which was connected to the opposite bank of the river by ferries. St Mary's Church, the Anglican parish church, was rebuilt in 1826.[1]
Education in the growing town was initially provided by private individuals. In 1835, a Mrs Welch founded a "Penny School"—apparently a type of Dame school—on the north side of Church Street.[2] The L-shaped building had a single schoolroom and an attached schoolmaster's house at the east end.[3] About 65 pupils were typically on the roll. The school, which was run by Dissenters[2] rather than the Established Church, was completed and opened in 1836.[3][4]
After the school fell out of use, it passed into religious use for the first time when Plymouth Brethren acquired it.[3] Meanwhile, Quakers started meeting in Littlehampton in 1952.[5] They sought a permanent meeting house, and bought the former school in 1965[3] (by which stage Brethren were meeting at Argyll Hall elsewhere in the town).[5] Membership of the Littlehampton Friends Meeting was recorded as 20 people in 1985,[5] and it is now described as a "large" meeting by the Religious Society of Friends themselves.[6] Weekly meetings take place on Sunday mornings.[6]
Littlehampton Friends Meeting House was designated a Grade II Listed building on 21 August 1975.[7]
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