Eye - 28 June 2024

From Finding Fox in Fenny Drayton to Walking worship

Finding Fox in Fenny Drayton

Rosemary Sturge, of Northamptonshire Area Meeting, reached out to tell Eye about a recent journey Friends undertook to mark an upcoming milestone.

She writes that: ‘Northamptonshire Area Meeting Quakers like to plan a social activity in June, and this year decided to celebrate the 400th anniversary of George Fox’s birth by visiting the village where he was born, Fenny Drayton, in Leicestershire.

‘The village church there contains mementoes of the Fox family and on the village street there is a monument to him. We were also able to see the spot where it is believed the Foxes’ family home stood.

‘We were made extremely welcome by church members at St Michael’s in Fenny Drayton and also in the nearby village of Hartshill where Hartshill Quakers shared the history of their Meeting. This dates back to George’s lifetime when relatives of his were “convinced” and founded what must have been one of the first Meetings for Worship, which was held in a local barn.’