Heritage Open Day 2025
- fuzzwahoo
- 5 days ago
- 1 min read
Norwich Quaker Meeting House + Radical Women and Reform
Saturday 13 September 2025.
10am – 4pm
1pm Illustrated talk by Dr Alison Dow (approx 45 minutes) Seated, free, no booking required
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. Donations welcome.
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.
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