Local Quaker History

History of the Friends Meeting House in Littlehampton

Friends Meeting House was built as a 'Penny School' by a Mrs. Welch in 1835. Families paid a penny a week for a child's education. The main room is where the school was housed and the 2 storey attached building was where the schoolteacher lived. The school was somewhat larger than the many small front parlour education establishments to be found around Littlehampton. The school  was closed in 1875 after the Education Act of 1870 introduced a national education system run by local school boards.

The building was then owned by various enterprises over the subsequent years including possibly a tailor's, a cycle manufacturer and a storage company. Various religious organisations also owned it, including Baptists, Salvation Army and Plymouth Brethren. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) purchased it from the Brethren in 1965.

Littlehampton Quakers had originally started meeting over a shop in High Street, then in 1949 in East Street as an 'Allowed Meeting' under the care of Worthing Meeting. In the early 60s, as attendance slowly increased, Meetings were held in a room at the Youth Centre in East Street and at an Old People's club in New Road. Meetings were also held in Friends' homes.
Suitable premises in the centre of Littlehampton became available at the end of 1964. The owner, a
member of The Brethren, was glad to sell to Friends so it could continue to be used for the work of God. The purchase was a venture of faith. The cost of purchasing and renovating the premises totalled £4,000, of which the Meeting Houses Funds Committee of Central Quakers generously gave £1,000 plus a loan of £850 for 10 years, free of interest. An appeal was made to which Friends from around Britain contributed. The price of the property itself was £2,700. The purchase was concluded on 30th March 1965.

In 2015 the 50th anniversary of Littlehampton Quakers being at Friends Meeting House in Church Street was celebrated. It seems that this is the longest tenure of any group since it was built in 1835. In 2019, the building was redeveloped and modernised, creating 'Access for All'. The Meeting House is listed and is thought to be one of the finest examples of a Sussex Flintstone building in the district.

Richard Marler with special thanks to Stan Nattrass who wrote the original history