Pales: a living testimony

Peter Rivers writes about new steps at the Pales Meeting House

A few years ago I went to Woodbrooke, the Quaker study centre, for a weekend run by the Kindlers. I found myself sitting next to Lynda Williams and in our introductions to each other told her I was moving to Shropshire. She told me she was from the Pales. Clearly, I was meant to know what that meant but I was new to Quakers and ignorant of most things.

The Pales is the oldest Meeting house in Wales in continuous use and one of only three thatched Meeting houses in Britain. It is a beautiful building in rural Radnorshire in the county of Powys. George Fox visited the area a number of times in the seventeenth century. The name ‘Pales’ is believed to have come from the original deed, which referred to a package of land ‘paled or fenced in’ given for a burial ground during the persecution. This year we are celebrating the tercentenary of the building of the Meeting house.

Lynda encouraged me to visit and so when my partner, Kevin, and I next visited Shropshire we went to the Pales and, like so many others, fell in love with all that the place offers and represents.

I was due to transfer to Southern Marches Area Meeting and learnt that there was to be a meeting at the Pales. I asked if we could attend. We both ministered and Kevin, speaking from an Anglican perspective, commended the honesty of Quakers and our ability to live adventurously.

Quakers love acronyms. A favourite is STEP, which is used by some Friends as an acronym for our testimonies. The letters represent simplicity and sustainability, truth and integrity, equality, and peace. However, the word has another resonance for the Pales today.

Martin and Lynda Williams served as wardens at the Pales for twenty-one years, caring for and looking after a lovely building that is part of the story of Quakers in Wales. Logically, it does not seem sensible for the Society to keep these historic buildings, which take such time, energy and money to maintain, but, emotionally, we feel differently about them.

Southern Marches trustees agreed to relieve the Local Meeting, which also has its own Meeting house, of responsibility for the management of the Pales, but the Local Meeting retains pastoral responsibility. The Pales Development Group was set up to manage the Pales and look to the future.

The first ‘steps’ have been taken towards the refurbishment and development of the site, which is Grade II* listed. It consists of a burial ground, the Meeting house, a school room, a warden’s cottage, a service block and beautiful grounds that have been developed to enhance this place set in ‘God’s own country’.

As the group worked towards finding these new ‘steps’ it became clear that the STEPs of our Quaker testimonies are wonderfully displayed within the curtilage of the Pales. We are excited by this and are working closely with our architects to display these Quaker values in our planned refurbishment and development.

Quakers are concerned about the excesses and unfairness of our materialistic society and the unsustainable use of natural resources. We try to live simply and to find space for the things that really matter: the people around us, the natural world and our experience of the Light.

This is demonstrated at the Pales in our attitude to sustainability through our care of this historic site. Different ecosystems are nurtured and there are simple furnishings and decorations. In the burial ground the plain headstones express the testimony to equality.

Quakers believe everyone is equal and this means working to change the systems that cause injustice and hinder true community. It also means working with people who suffer injustice, such as prisoners, refugees and asylum seekers, and led Friends to campaign for marriage equality. The Pales is primarily a place of worship in the manner of Friends but we welcome people of every nationality, of all faiths and none, to use these facilities. A local Buddhist group, a yoga group and the Pales Peace Choir regularly use our resources.

Quakers try to live according to the deepest truth we know, which we believe comes from that of God in everyone. This means speaking the truth to all, including people in positions of power. As we are guided by integrity, so we expect to see it in public life.

The Peace Testimony reflects a concern for nonviolence and the very environment in which the Pales is set speaks of the peace of creation. At the Pales this is marked through the Peace Pole placed near the meditation pond, which carries the message ‘May Peace Prevail On Earth’ in English, Welsh, French and Japanese.

We see the Pales as a living working out of our Peace Testimony in the way that we relate to the environment, our neighbours in the local community, and nationally and internationally.

We want to offer a warm welcome to visitors and hope that we are going to be able to provide some residential facilities at the Pales. The first challenge is to negotiate with the planning and heritage authorities. The next challenge will be to secure funding for these plans.

We have planned a week of celebrations in September to mark the tercentenary of the Meeting house. The Pales is open for service to the whole of Britain Yearly Meeting and beyond, and we hope this invitation will be taken up enthusiastically.

The National Churches Trust has launched ‘Sacred Wales’, where the Pales is listed as one of the top fifty favourite historic religious buildings in Wales. (Friends can express their support for the Pales with the possibility of an award of £500 to the Meeting house!)

The Pales is a place of worship, fellowship and also active witness. Recently, we have had an art day organised for and by local artists. On another day a group of sixty refugees were welcomed for a day of respite organised by our Area Meeting. In addition, in June we had two weddings at the Pales; the first was of Claudia Hannelore Mollzahn and Jennifer Ann Twelvetrees (South Wales Area Meeting) and the second was my own with Kevin.

Over eighty Friends and friends attended. Many had not been to a Quaker Meeting before and most had not attended a Quaker marriage. The impact of our historic building in the beautiful Radnorshire hills and the simplicity and focus of the Quaker marriage had a big impact.

The Pales still has an important role in the life of Britain Yearly Meeting and we are very keen to encourage Friends to help us deliver it. Live adventurously and come and see!

Further information: www.thepales.org.uk and http://bit.ly/SacredWalesPales

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