Quaker Meeting House and Burial Ground
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Quaker Meeting House and Burial Ground

Alton, East Hampshire District, Hampshire, England

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In 1664 the first Alton Quakers began meeting together in their own homes close to the present Meeting House in Church Street. Early adopters of the Quaker faith suffered greatly for their faith. The persecution of the Alton Quakers continued through the 1660s and it is recorded that in 1670 a meeting was disrupted and Quakers were pulled out of the house they were meeting. Their goods were seized and many were fined. In 1672 sixty seven Quakers in Alton collected together enough money, £204, to build a Meeting House. The date on the wall of the house is 1672. The Quaker Meeting House at Alton is the second oldest Meeting House in the world and apart from a period after WWI, has been in continuous use. By 1673 Thomas Bullock lived in the attached cottage and took care of the Meeting House and the burial place next door. Next to the meeting house is an area of grass and trees. This is an active Quaker burial ground, in which there are about 20 gravestones, laid down and surrounded by grass. Most of the graves are not now marked in any way. They were originally, and the stones have been moved to the boundary wall. These are now hidden by the hedge around the burial ground. The Alton ground is a little unusual in that several of the stones have fuller descriptions on them. Several of these are from prominent Quaker families in the town, the Curtis, Crowley and Heath families.
In 1664 the first Alton Quakers began meeting together in their own homes close to the present Meeting House in Church Street. Early adopters of the Quaker faith suffered greatly for their faith. The persecution of the Alton Quakers continued through the 1660s and it is recorded that in 1670 a meeting was disrupted and Quakers were pulled out of the house they were meeting. Their goods were seized and many were fined. In 1672 sixty seven Quakers in Alton collected together enough money, £204, to build a Meeting House. The date on the wall of the house is 1672. The Quaker Meeting House at Alton is the second oldest Meeting House in the world and apart from a period after WWI, has been in continuous use. By 1673 Thomas Bullock lived in the attached cottage and took care of the Meeting House and the burial place next door. Next to the meeting house is an area of grass and trees. This is an active Quaker burial ground, in which there are about 20 gravestones, laid down and surrounded by grass. Most of the graves are not now marked in any way. They were originally, and the stones have been moved to the boundary wall. These are now hidden by the hedge around the burial ground. The Alton ground is a little unusual in that several of the stones have fuller descriptions on them. Several of these are from prominent Quaker families in the town, the Curtis, Crowley and Heath families.

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  • Added: 20 May 2022
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2753378