Chichester Friends Meetinghouse facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Chichester Friends Meetinghouse
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Chichester Friends Meetinghouse
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 Location in Pennsylvania
Location in the United States
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| Location | 611 Meetinghouse Rd., Boothwyn, Pennsylvania |
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| Area | 6 acres (2.4 ha) |
| Built | 1769 |
| NRHP reference No. | 73001622 |
| Added to NRHP | March 14, 1973 |
The Chichester Friends Meetinghouse is a very old and important Quaker building. It is located near Boothwyn, Pennsylvania in Upper Chichester Township, Pennsylvania. Quakers are also known as the Religious Society of Friends. This area near Chester, Pennsylvania was one of the first places where Quakers settled in Pennsylvania.
The meetinghouse was first built around 1688. After a fire, it was rebuilt in 1769. The building shows how early Quakers lived and worshipped in Pennsylvania. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. This means it is a special place worth protecting.
History of the Meetinghouse
In 1682, William Penn first arrived in Pennsylvania. That same year, the Chichester Quaker group was started. It was a smaller, connected group of the Uplands Monthly Meeting in what is now Chester. Robert Wade had started the Uplands Meeting in 1675. He came from earlier Quaker settlements in New Jersey.
The Chichester group became its own main meeting, called a Monthly Meeting, in March 1684. These Friends first met in people's homes. Then, around 1688, a meetinghouse was built. It was about 24-foot (7.3 m) square. The land for it was bought on October 4, 1688. It cost only one shilling and sixpence. The land was "only for the use of the people of God, called Quakers."
In January 1769, the meetinghouse burned down. Later that same year, a new, larger building was put up. It was 33-foot (10 m) by 38-foot (12 m).
The doors of the meetinghouse still show bullet holes. These happened when British soldiers were looking for food after the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777. In 1793, a school was started at the meetinghouse. It taught children there until 1836, when the state began to require public education.
Around 1827, the Quaker group split into two main branches. This was known as the Orthodox-Hicksite separation. Both groups used the Chichester Meetinghouse for a while. The Orthodox group stopped meeting there in 1880. The Hicksite group stopped in 1914. Since then, the meetinghouse has only been used for special events.
The building has no modern conveniences like heat, plumbing, or electricity. This means it is still in its original condition, just as it was long ago.
It was against the law to build Quaker meetinghouses in England until the Act of Toleration in 1689. Because meetinghouses were built in Pennsylvania much earlier, the Chichester Meetinghouse is very special. The 1769 building is thought to look like the earlier 1688 meetinghouse. This means it shows an early "English" style of Quaker architecture.
A house for the caretaker was built in 1703. In 1783, a large barn with a six-bay shed was also built. Both of these buildings are still used today.
Gallery
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Inside the meetinghouse
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Old carvings on the wood
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Old conveniences
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The meetinghouse in the 19th century
