About

This simple but imposing building, reconstructed c.1807, is typical of a Georgian nonconformist chapel or meeting house. Its history stretches back to at least the beginning of the 14th century when the Augustinian Friars from the Priory in Gorleston built a cell here, the remains of which can be seen in the Undercroft. The Friars left in 1536-1539 when the Priory church in Gorleston was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

The Quakers were much in evidence in Great Yarmouth from the middle of the 17th century and acquired this site in 1694. Ground levels have changed over the centuries and at first the floor of the Meeting House was below ground and had to be accessed by means of a stepladder.

The connection with Anna Sewell (author of Black Beauty) is worth mentioning. Anna’s parents probably met at this Meeting House. Her father, Isaac, came from an established Great Yarmouth Quaker family and his wife, Mary, moved here from Norwich with her parents in 1810. Soon after Anna’s birth in 1820 the family moved from Yarmouth to London and, subsequently, to many other areas of England.

Part of Heritage Open Days.