The Quaker movement dates from 1652, when an itinerant George Fox reached Westmorland following a vision on Pendle Hill. Fox impressed local 'seeker' groups with his open-air ministry at Firbank Fell near Sedbergh, and shortly after at Preston Patrick. Locals from the Yealand area were probably present at Preston Patrick.
A small group calling themselves Friends (of the Truth) or Quakers (the terms tend to be used interchangeably) soon started to meet in Yealand, but at that time they had to meet in each other's homes. Cromwell and the civil authorities were very nervous, in the years following the English Civil War, about independently minded locals meeting for subversive purposes. Officially, Friends were not allowed any Meeting Houses of their own in this period. They were harassed for non-payment of tithes to the parish, and from the Roman Catholic stronghold of Leighton Hall.
Two early local Friends were Richard Hubberthorne and Robert Withers. Hubberthorne lived in Yealand, while Withers came from Over Kellet. Both followed Fox around the country in the period when he was successfully spreading his message and establishing regular Quaker Meetings. Richard died in Newgate jail in 1662. A clock on the front wall of the school commemorates his life. Withers even went with Fox to Jamaica, and lived until 1686.
After James II was deposed in 1688, and the Dutch branch of the royal family, William and Mary, were installed on the English throne, greater tolerance of non-conformist groups soon followed. The 1689 Act of Toleration allowed Quakers and others to have their own places to meet.
There were already Meeting Houses at Preston Patrick and Briggflatts (Sedbergh), but clearly local Quakers were sufficiently numerous to want their own building. The date of 1692 is carved into a stone above the porch of Yealand Meeting House, but the main structure is thought to be older. The balcony, which is now hidden behind removable panels and normally locked off, is quite typical; there is a similar design at Briggflatts. As built, the Meeting House had a thatched roof and a simple fireplace with chimney. The raised bench was originally used by elders of the Meeting.
Disaster struck in 1737, when the roof caught fire and the whole building was badly damaged. Rebuilding was complete by 1742, and much of the wood panelling dates from this time. The rear extension dates from the 1960s.
Quakers were concerned with education from the beginning: learning to read the Bible for yourself was important if you didn't want to listen to the minister in the parish church. Quaker children would have been excluded from Archbishop Hutton's Grammar School in Warton. Thus, a school was established with a legacy from Robert Withers in 1709. Initially it was held at Hilderstone, a farm two miles away, but in 1764 Quakers bought a building at the top of the Meeting House path. This has been modified a number of times over the years, and may originally have been a barn, but you can still imagine the large room on the first floor as a classroom. The school continued until 1920.
The burial ground reflects Quaker views on equality, and a rejection of wealth and fame. As a result, the style of headstones is very closely controlled. Areas at the top of the slope probably do hold graves, but twice in the 18th Century local Meetings were instructed to remove headstones.
In 1940, when cities were threatened by bombing, children were evacuated to rural areas. Within weeks, with Elfrida Vipont Foulds as the prime organiser, Quakers set up an evacuation school in Yealand Manor, a property set in large grounds on the other side of Yealand Road. It took in Quaker children from Manchester, Liverpool, and elsewhere, together with some refugee children. When it first opened it had no curriculum, no timetable, no apparatus, no books: only children.
After the war, with the Old School as a base, Elfrida encouraged many visiting groups to stay at Yealand, learn more about the early history of Quakers, and visit the '1652 country', including Swarthmore Hall near Ulverston, Firbank Fell, Pendle Hill, and Lancaster Jail where many early Friends were imprisoned for their beliefs.
Along with other Quaker Meeting Houses, ours is listed with a 2* grade, as are the mounting steps on the road! Much of Yealand Conyers is a conservation area.
Today, and considering its rural location, the Quaker Meeting remains very active. The Old School, which has been run as a simple hostel since the 1950s, was extensively modernised in 2019.