Bath Quaker Meeting House
Bath Quaker Meeting House
The former Friends Meeting House on York Street, Bath, is a Grade II Greek Revival building by William Wilkins, opened as a Masonic Hall on 23 September 1819. Historic England lists it for the correct Greek facade and the top-lit Great Room. Bath Quakers bought the building in 1866 and sold it in 2020.
- Location
- Bath, Somerset
- Country
- England
- County
- Somerset
- City / town
- Bath
- Address
- Bath Quaker Meeting House, Bath, Somerset, BA1 1NG
- Postcode
- BA1 1NG
- Built
- 1817–19 as a Masonic Hall; Quaker meeting house from 1866; sold 2020
- Architect
- William Wilkins
- Denomination
- Quaker (Religious Society of Friends)
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Greek Revival
- Materials
- Limestone ashlar facade; stone-lined vaults
- Grid reference
- ST 751 647
- Access
- The York Street building is no longer used for Quaker worship; it opened as a bookshop in 2021. Bath Quakers meet elsewhere in the city.
- Website
- https://bathquakers.org/
Overview
Wilkins (1778–1839), architect of the National Gallery, designed a porticoed front with a pediment (later dated 1842 when the building became Bethesda Chapel) and originally blind side walls, the interior lit only by roof lanterns or cupolas. The Freemasons left in the 1820s; the hall then served as an assembly room, a nonconformist chapel and, from 1842, Bethesda Chapel. Quakers used it from 1866 until they left in April 2019.
The listing notes seven stone-lined, round-arched vaults under the road to the north and a group value with the Greek Revival terrace opposite. Topping and Company opened a bookshop here in October 2021. Bath Friends now meet at a central Baptist church; their history is published at bathquakers.org.