Mixture of Old and New Photographs of Woodbridge and Melton
The first references to converts to the Quaker way of life and worship in south east Suffolk are from 1655. In that year George Whitehead and other Quaker evangelists, the ‘First publishers of Truth’, arrived in Suffolk and held meetings across the county. The first Woodbridge converts would have met together for worship and discussion in their own houses, not only in Woodbridge but also in some of the surrounding villages.
The Meeting House in Woodbridge was built in Turn Lane during 1678. This was some 6 years after Charles II had proclaimed an indulgence which enabled dissenting preachers and preaching places to be licensed and by then persecution of Dissenters was on the rise again. In December 1678, the Justices of the Peace issued an order to the Constables of Woodbridge complaining of ‘this Meeting House newly built near the Church’. Should five persons or more, of age of sixteen and upward, attempt to meet there the Constables were to ‘charge and command them peaceably to disperse and depart forthwith to their several homes and abodes, and not break His Majesty's peace by meeting in such an unlawful manner'.
When the Toleration Act was passed 1689 the Quakers were able to worship in the way they wanted but this did not swell their numbers in Woodbridge or nationally. Between 1680 and 1800, the numbers of Quakers in Woodbridge fell by a half, with a further reduction of one third by 1860. In 1935 the Woodbridge Monthly Meeting regretfully came to the conclusion ‘that the time has come to close the meeting at Woodbridge where no regular Meeting for worship has been held for some time and where there are now only two members’.
Phot114
The Quaker Meeting House on Turn Lane was sold in 1937 and for a time was used as a warehouse for a shop on Church Street. In 1971 it was converted it into a residential dwelling. The burial ground remains as a place for quiet contemplation and is leased to Woodbridge Town Council.
What was left of the interior of the Quaker Meeting House.
Aerial photograph interior of the Quaker Meeting House and the Burial Grounds.
Below the Meeting House and the Burial Grounds are three Almshouses.
|
Phot114a Previous photograph in this series |