Norwich Quaker Meeting House + Radical Women and Reform

We apologise if the details below differ from those printed in the Heritage Open Day 2025 Booklet.

The Meeting House has a quiet elegance free from ornament and ostentation with plain walls and high windows reflecting the Quaker testimony of 'simplicity'. Its aim, to minimise distraction from its spiritual function.

When not being used for silent Quaker Meetings on Wednesdays and Sundays it doubles as a simple yet functional space available for hire by community groups, choirs, charities and functions.

Norwich Quakers invite you to come and look around, take in some music and refreshments in the garden (weather permitting) and enjoy a special talk by Dr Alison Dow in the Large Meeting House.

Quakers first met on this site in the 1670s. At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were probably around 500 Quakers in Norwich and this unassuming building has been home for Quaker worship for almost 200 years.

Norwich has always been an important Quaker centre and many Quakers were at the heart of Victorian social reform. Joseph Gurney and his Anglican brother-in-law Thomas Fowell Buxton were nationally conspicuous social reformers. For both these reasons, the Goat Lane Meeting House has exceptional historical value.

At 1pm Dr Alison Dow will give a talk about Norwich’s radical women – social reformers like Quakers Elizabeth Fry and Amelia Opie (amongst others) who attended Norwich Meeting House in the early 1800s.

Timings & Tours

Saturday 13 September:

Open 10am-4pm. At 1pm there is an Illustrated talk by Dr Alison Dow (approx 45 minutes). Seated, free, no booking required

Location & directions

Quaker Meeting House, Upper Goat Lane, Norwich, Norfolk, NR2 1EW

Directions:

Please use public parking unless you require disabled parking. Limited availability on site. To get to the Meeting House in Upper Goat Lane, the one-way system means that when you come off the Grapes Hill roundabout (at the first exit after Grapes Hill) you take the second left into Willow Lane (there's a second hand bookshop on the corner), then down the hill to Micawber's Tavern pub on the right where you turn right into Pottergate. Drive along Pottergate, turning right into Upper Goat Lane shortly after the small Pay and Display carpark. The Meeting House car park is 15 yards up the road on the right but places are limited. what3words: spun.silent.slot

Contact on day:

Ruth Murray

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking not required

Accessibility details

Please use public parking unless you require disabled parking. Limited availability on site. The downstairs Large Meeting House and the Long Room are accessible for wheelchair users but not the upstairs Gallery or Small Meeting House.

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