Beliefs

There is no Quaker creed – it is an evolving faith that values practice more highly than dogma.   What unifies us is the fact that we are all seekers who value the fellowship and insights of fellow seekers.   We share a general approach:

• there is something of God in every person –
  we owe it to others to recognise and respond to ‘that of God’ in them
• we are rooted in Christianity but open to new light from wherever it may come –
  we draw inspiration from Jesus but refrain from making dogmatic statements about him,
  the Bible is a source, but not the only source, of wisdom and inspiration
• inward spiritual growth is a continuing and individual process
• we seek to act on the promptings of love and truth in our hearts

We strive to live our beliefs and insights in our daily life.   This leads us to four particular concerns:

• truth and integrity
• equality and justice
• simplicity
• peace

You can read more about these concerns at www.quaker.org.uk/quaker-faith-action

Quakers in Britain use Quaker Faith and Practice as a source of guidance and inspiration.  It contains guidance on the way we run our affairs, and insights from Quakers on many matters.

Room hire

Both community and business users can be accommodated in our historic but extensively modernised meeting house.  All rooms have under-floor heating and are well decorated.  Internet access is available and a television with an HTMI connection and Sound Bar, or a data projector with screen can also be booked. Meeting House users are also very welcome to relax in our beautiful garden.

What kind of rooms do we have?

We have a variety of rooms including our main meeting room accommodating up to 80 (40 with tables, the Garden Room shown  (up to 30) and the Margaret Kemp Room (up to 20).

We are centrally located in Bury St. Edmunds historic town centre with entrances in St. Johns and St. Andrews Street, just by the library. Long and Short Stay Parking is located close to the Meeting House. We are two minutes walk from the bus station and ten minutes walk from the railway station. Limited On-Street public parking for blue badge holders is located on St.Andrews Street very close to the Meeting House. Level access is available from our St.Andrews Street entrance.  A toilet for the disabled is available in the Meeting House. We have a hearing loop in the main meeting room.

For bookings click here to contact the Warden or phone 07746 695589. 

For information on room availability click here.

Click here for contact details and declarations form (Still being tested)

Meeting house

Bury Quakers bought a property in ‘Long Brackland’ (now St. John’s Street) in 1682, for £50, only 30 years after George Fox had founded the Quaker movement.

The present timber-framed, Grade II listed building, with its extensive garden and burial ground, was built by Bury Quakers on a site bought by them in 1750.   It is the oldest Quaker Meeting House in Suffolk that is still in use.

The front wall is faced with 19th century white bricks and has a full Venetian window.  Internally the original raised benches for Ministers and Elders remain, as does the gallery, which has recently been restored.

The Margaret Kemp Room is named after a Friend who kept the Meeting going in the post-war years of the 1940s, sometimes being the only Quaker attending on a Sunday morning.  Our numbers have grown since then, and we aim now to be an active presence in the community.

In 2007 work commenced on the provision of a new room for community meetings (the Garden Room), new toilets, and a state-of-the-art kitchen, all leading off an entrance hall designed to reflect the importance of light in Quaker belief and thinking.  At the same time, the older rooms had under-floor heating installed – to match the new extension – and were redecorated.  The gallery was re-opened, and a library installed where the old kitchen once was.  A civic opening ceremony of the restored Meeting House took place in October 2008.

The cost of the extension and restoration amounted to £530,000 and this was raised in a little over three years, without recourse to Lottery funding, because of our concern about the effects of gambling.

A more detailed history of the Bury Meeting can be found in Betty Curtayne’s recently revised booklet Quakers in Bury St Edmunds (£3.00), available from the Meeting House.

Recently the Meeting House was the subject of a survey by The Quaker Meeting Houses Heritage Project. You can see the report on our Meeting House here.

We have a lovely garden at our Meeting House. The garden is used for chat and relaxation after our meeting for worship and also by our hirers. The garden cannot be currently accessed by the public but we hope this will change in the near future

Our meeting house garden appears as pledge on the Wild East Map of Dreams. We are taking action in various ways to address Climate Change concerns. We pledge half of the garden around the Meeting House to nature. The grass is managed for wild flowers, and we have enriched the habitats including building a small pond.

Contact us

If you would like to book one of our rooms:
please email bse.quakerwarden@gmail.com or phone 07746 695589

If you would like to find out more about Quaker worship in Bury St Edmunds:
please email bsequakers@gmail.com or phone 01440 763763

If you would like to contact individually all the Quakers in Bury St Edmunds who have email addresses
please email bsequakers@googlegroups.com
(If you are a member of this group the email will be sent immediately. If you are not, the email will be sent for moderation first.)

Donate or pay a bill

Please click this link

How to find us

Our address is: Quaker Meeting House, St John’s Street, Bury St Edmunds IP33 1SJ

There are entrances in St Andrew’s Street and St John’s Street, just downhill from the library.

Google Maps

Click here for a interactive map.

Wheelchair access

Wheelchair users and others who find steps difficult can access the Meeting House on the level through the St Andrew’s Street entrance.

Other disabilities

We have a hearing loop system in our main meeting room.

If you have a disability which you think will make your visit to our Meeting House difficult, please contact our warden by email at bse.quakerwarden@gmail.com or by phone on 07746 695589 and we’ll try to help.

Car parking

St Andrews Street car park – entered from Parkway North, opposite the fire station – has an exit in St Andrew’s Street, opposite the Meeting House.  It is open Monday – Saturday 8am – 6pm and Sunday 10am – 4pm.  It has two parts: long-stay and short-stay.  Parking in Bury St Edmunds is free after 3pm on Tuesdays only.

Click here for list of Bury St Edmunds car parks. Sorry, they get very full, especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Bus station

The bus station is in St Andrew’s Street, just opposite the Meeting House.

Click here for buses to Bury St Edmunds.  Warning: there are very few that get you to town in time for Meeting for Worship on a Sunday.

Railway station

The railway station is a 10 minute walk away.

View on google maps.

Click here for trains to Bury St Edmunds.

  St Johns Street entrance

St Andrews Street entrance  

Events