New Meeting house in Clitheroe
Friends in Clitheroe have opened a new Meeting house
For the first time, Clitheroe in Lancashire has a Quaker Meeting house, right in the centre of town.
Friends had been meeting in Sawley, a small village about five miles from Clitheroe, since the 1700s, with the Meeting house there dating back to 1778.
‘It was a lovely old Meeting house with hardly anybody in the local area,’ Wendy Hampton, Local Meeting clerk, said in an interview. Despite ‘trying really hard with it’ numbers were falling, and Friends decided to explore finding a new, more central property. ‘The Meeting needed to be where the people were.’
After a discernment process, it was decided to sell the Meeting house in Sawley and buy a new property in Clitheroe.
The new Meeting house, which had previously been a restaurant and offices, is on the marketplace, next to a large car park. ‘You can’t miss it,’ Wendy said. ‘People are always dropping in.’
Friends inaugurated their new Meeting house on 11 March when they hosted Pendle Hill Area Meeting. Britain Yearly Meeting recording clerk Paul Parker attended the celebrations.
‘The old Meeting house was perfect when it was built and this is perfect now, dry warm and in the middle of town,’ Wendy said. ‘We’re really excited.’
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