There has been a Quaker presence in Portsmouth since the 17th century.
A meeting house existed in Portsmouth by 1694. This was replaced by a new, possibly purpose-built, meeting house opened in 1711 where Quakers met until its sale in 1794. There followed over a hundred years with no permanent meeting house, until June 1905 when a group of Portsmouth Quakers wrote “We feel the time has come when the holding of a meeting at Southsea after the manner of Friends will be welcomed by those Friends residing in the neighbourhood and possibly other inhabitants also. We hope that the sympathy of the Monthly Meeting will be extended to us, for we feel the starting of a meeting will be no light undertaking.”
In 1923 Friends were given the Railway Mission Hall in Fratton by a Miss Hurrell, though not without some difficulty as the Pocket Testament League thought she had given the Hall and a house at 2 Cavendish Road to them. However the League did eventually agree to hand over the Hall to Friends, who were asked to pay the Southern Railway a rent of £5 a quarter.
This 'tin tabernacle' in Fratton remained the home of Portsmouth Friends until they moved to 25 Northwood Road, Hilsea in 1955 (pictured here). This remained the home of Portsmouth Quakers until April 2024.
However the real value of a Quaker meeting lies not in the bricks and mortar, but in the spiritual fellowship of local Friends, wherever we meet. Unlike some other churches, Quakers throughout history have met anywhere and everywhere, with no need for particular sacred space or consecrated ground.
How can we make the meeting a community in which each person is accepted and nurtured, and strangers are welcome?
Seek to know one another in the things which are eternal, bear the burden of each other’s failings and pray for one another.
As we enter with tender sympathy into the joys and sorrows of each other’s lives, ready to give help and to receive it, our meeting can be a channel for God’s love and forgiveness. - advices & queries 18