Friends Meeting House, 22 Market Street, Gainsborough

Image: © Jo and Steve Turner Taken: 14 May 2016

Grade II Listed Quaker Meeting House built in 1704. The Meeting House was licensed for worship in April 1705, the oldest nonconformist place of worship in Gainsborough. It originally comprised of only a rectangular room with a raised dais at the western end, where the Ministers and Elders sat. The Woman's Gallery at the eastern end was shuttered that was opened for joint sessions such as when a man and woman came before the Meeting to declare their intention of marriage. Extensive alterations to windows and doors were made in 1809/ 10 visible from the burial ground. 1876 when Friends were fostering the Adult School Movement, the Schoolroom was built at right angles to the main Meeting Room. The Meeting House received collateral damage during an air-raid on Marshall's Factory in 1942. During the restoration the benches which had faced the Ministers' Gallery were rearranged to form a hollow square. As Friends could not be buried in consecrated ground the land behind the Meeting House, southwards was used but that ceased in the 1850s due to a cholera outbreak in Gainsborough. In the 1980s the building was re-roofed and a false ceiling installed in the Meeting Room to conserve heat. Central heating was installed and hearing-loop fitted in the 1990s. Windows in the Women's Gallery were replaced with exact period copies, as was the large window in the Schoolroom. A major refurbishment took place in 2014/15. Toilet facilities were improved to allow access for disabled users, and the kitchen was updated. The false ceiling in the Meeting Room was taken down so that the shutters could be safely opened, and the lighting was significantly improved.

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