Eye - 09 October 2015

Friend and horses at Gildersome

Horses and Quaker history at Gildersome

Over 300 years of Quaker history was on display at the Grade 2 listed Gildersome Quaker Meeting House when the building was opened as part of Heritage Open Day on Sunday 13 September.

One of the most interesting historic features at the Meeting house, which was built in 1756, is the stables, which were installed to accommodate the horses of Quaker visitors from Leeds and other areas. The stables were built in 1849 and have remained unchanged since then.

Friends and local residents, including local council member and former mayor of Morley Andrew Dalton, visited the Meeting house on Heritage Open Day. Andrew Dalton was among an appreciative audience who listened with interest to a talk on the history and heritage of Gildersome Meeting given by Robert Keeble, who is clerk of Leeds Area Meeting.

Among the interesting stories and information Robert shared with the audience was the establishment of a Quaker school in 1772 at Gilead Farm, which is on the edge of Gildersome and was in use until 1815. It was a boarding school and local Quaker Meetings met the cost of sending children from poorer Quaker families; for others the school fees were ten guineas per year, or the fees could be reduced to eight guineas per year. However, where the reduced fees were paid, there was a requirement for the children to work three to four hours a day! There is no record of what work the children were undertaking, but there are some clues: records show that milk was served at every meal, so someone had to milk the cows by hand and then there was the mucking out to be done.

Robert explained: ‘I grew up on a dairy farm in Cornwall with four other children and it was like having our own adventure playground, so I hope and expect that the children at the school enjoyed their farm upbringing as much as I did.’

The Meeting house evokes another era when the pace of life was certainly slower. It has retained the old carriage house and a room above the gatehouse arch that was set-aside for coachmen.

Robert added: ‘Then, as now, Quakers were very worried about the harmful effects of gambling, but I do wonder if the coachmen would have played cards whilst the Quakers were holding their service.’

Only a small number of Friends presently worship at Gildersome, with Meeting for Worship every Sunday at 10.45am, and local Friends enjoy having visitors to the historic Meeting house and stables.

Food at Gildersome School

Breakfast: Boiled milk or milk pottage (made with barley water or oatmeal)

Dinner: ‘Shambles meat’ roasted or boiled, served cold or on alternate days with ‘greens or roots’ followed by ‘pudding’ or rice milk. ‘Hasty

Pudding: was served on Saturdays; this was an oatmeal pottage for which oatmeal was boiled in water with a little salt, perhaps served with treacle.

After school: Milk and sometimes bread and butter

Supper: Boiled milk or rice milk or milk pottage.

Drinks: Milk (sometimes with water) at all meals.

Further information: robertkeeble@hotmail.com

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