QuakerInfo.com Forum

[SteveT]

For those Friends with an interest in Quaker history I regret to inform you that the Meeting House at Jordans was destroyed by fire last Thursday.

Quaker Meetings were first held in the building (a 16th century farm) after 1659 while George Fox and the Publishers of Truth were preaching up and down the country. A tablet there records evidence of these turbulent times of persecution for religious dissenters when Jordans Meeting was broken up by order of the local Justices and members hauled away to prison. George Fox, James Naylor, William Penn and other dedicated men worshipped under constant threat of arrest in this building.
William Penn, with his wives Gulielma and Hannah, together with ten of his sixteen children, is interred in the burial ground alongside other men whose lives still speak to present day Friends, Isaac Pennington and Thomas Ellwood among them.

It would appear that the Wardens were woken by a smoke alarm on Thursday night and one received minor injuries as he attempted to fight the fire. It spread too quickly however and their accommodation was quickly engulfed which meant they were unable to access their phone. They had to run to the hostel up the hill in their night clothes and by the time the Fire Brigade arrived it was too late to save the building.

While it is "only bricks and mortar" I know that many Friends worldwide hold it in affection and hope that you will hold the members of that Meeting in the light while they struggle to deal with this. It certainly gives me food for thought as I tend to take my own Meeting House (Brigflatts) for granted.

Steve

[wsamuel]

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Bill Samuel, Webservant, QuakerInfo.com

[bradleyp]

I’m sorry to hear of this fire. I’m sure that the Friends who attended that meeting will rebuild the house from the remains and foundations, it is after all the spirit of God, love and community that is the foundations for this and every meeting house that came after it.
_________________
Bradley P.
“The great thing about the next day is that it mostly gives us a chance to wake up and live better and be better people than we may have been the day before based on the lessons of previous days.” - me in my own head.

[Pulpculture]

This is terribly sad. I live 10 minutes from Jordans.

[Pulpculture]

The day after.......



MORE than 20 firefighters tackled a blaze in Jordans village which saw an internationally known landmark badly damaged.

Jordans Quaker Meeting House in Welders Lane dates back to 1688 and has been visited by thousands of Quakers who regard the Grade 1 listed building as their spiritual home.

But on Friday the building was engulfed by flames which took almost three hours to get under control.

Four fire engines from High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross and Amersham attended the scene after 12.31am, when a couple living in the adjoining flat were woken by their fire alarm.

The fire is believed to have started in the flat's kitchen, which was built in the 1960s, and spread to the meeting house.

Jordans Youth Hostel, which is just around the corner from the house, was evacuated amid fears that the fire would spread to its wooden huts.

Manager, Nicola Lowe, said the couple had came to her for help.

"It was unbelievable," she said. Their phones were locked in the building and they came to us for help. Six of us went down there."

The couple, who are the house wardens, were taken to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. The woman was later released, and the man was kept in for treatment to facial burns and for the effects of smoke inhalation.

A fire spokesman said: "It appears that the man tried to fight the fire and that is possibly why he was injured."

The roof of the building was completely destroyed and the interior was left damaged but recoverable.

A first-floor committee room was also completely destroyed.

Jeremy Williams, investigating fire officer, said a special investigation has begun into the cause of the fire but there are no suspicious circumstances.

He said: "Because of the structure being unsafe we have to be careful while investigating. It might not be immediately that we find the cause."

John Bull, assistant divisional fire officer, said the fire had taken longer to put out because of the methods firecrews were forced to use.

He said: "We employed defensive firefighting from outside the building as opposed to offensive, and going inside. We didn't want to risk firefighters' lives. Obviously if there had been people in there we would have gone in."

The meeting house is owned by a local group of Quakers.

Treasurer Rachel Ashton said she had been attending services at the house for most of her life. It is the spiritual home of the village," she said. "It is a big chunk of history that's been severely damaged."

Source here

[Jenny]

When I was living in England, I attended Friends Meeting in Watford, which is only twenty miles or so from Jordans, and I know the area well. Sad to see the destruction here.

[Stella]

From the picture (Pulpculture) posted it's difficult to tell which section was the original part -- it all looks modern as per windows, etc..

It is sad the structure was damaged, but glad to have heard no one was injured.
_________________
May we always focus on the Inner Light and
"Abide in Love"

[Pulpculture]

Stella. I thought the same. I'm hoping it is mainly the accommodation part that is lost rather than the older buildings.

[Nick]

A few corrections on this important story.

Jordans Meeting House was destroyed by fire. The building comprises the original meeting house, Library, staircase plus a modern extension which contains the wardens quarters, common room, kitchen etc. It is difficult to make this out from the photo. Regrettably, the original meeting house was severly damaged and the Library was completely destroyed. I believe that some of the original benches and windows have survived but I've been to visit the site and the damage is extensive. It will take circa two years to rebuild the meeting house.

It is very important to note that Old Jordans Farm and the Mayflower Barn are not attached to the meeting house. They are circa 300m walk through the graveyard and orchard and were untouched by the fire. It was here in Old Jordans that the first Quaker meetings took place and, arguably, these buildings are more historic than the meeting house itself. Regrettably, Old Jordans is under threat and looks likely to be sold fo re-development. I find it astounding that there is no discussion about the sale of the site and its importance to Quakers across the world. It will be extremely sad if Old Jordans and the Mayflower Barn are sold but this now looks ineveitable. Personally, I think this is probably worse than the fire itself.

[Nick]

http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/homes/propertynews/display.var.578531.0.pilgrims_history_goes_up_for_sale.php

The Quakers are selling off part of their heritage. The Mayflower Barn, known the world over for its associations with the Quaker William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, is on the market this week, along with Jordans farmhouse, secret meeting place for the Friends in the 17th century in the time of religious persecution.

The two buildings were built in the 1600s from ships' timbers that took the Pilgrim Fathers to America.

They were originally used as a hostel to give Quakers from London a break in the country but more recently they have become a hotel and conference centre run by the Old Jordans Trust, a registered charity set up by the Quakers.

The trustees confirmed on Wednesday they had instructed Knight Frank to put Old Jordans up for sale for £2.5 million. The property encompasses the Mayflower Barn, Jordans Farmhouse, a more modern refectory, also a gardener's cottage and housekeeper's cottage grouped together in grounds of five acres.

The hotel and conference centre, licensed for weddings, won't close until October so that future bookings can be honoured.

Janet Cummins, joint managing director of the trust, told the Free Press the decision had caused much heart-searching but it was eventually decided that the proceeds from the sale could be better used to promote their beliefs.

She explained: "The charity was set up to advance religion for the benefit of the public and in particular the Quaker faith. The trustees have been considering how best to achieve these objectives.

"After taking professional advice and carefully reviewing the options open to them they have to decided to sell the Old Jordans Estate and to devote the funds released to the trust's charitable purposes."

The farmhouse has 17 ensuite bedrooms along with a restaurant, bar and meeting rooms. The more recent refectory has two conference rooms and six ensuite bedrooms. There are a further four bedrooms in the gardener's cottage and a staff flat in the housekeeper's cottage.

Emma Cleugh, a partner at Knight Frank's department which specialises in advising charities, says they are expecting a great deal of interest from a wide variety of purchasers.

"It could be bought by a private buyer who would use the barn for parties. It may appeal to educational organisations I have a client who is looking for a property to set up an A-level college in Buckinghamshire.

"There's also an American university looking for a small campus for about 15 academics somewhere close to Oxford, either in Oxfordshire or Buckinghamshire."

"We would like to find a buyer who will appreciate the ethos of Jordans," says Janet Cummins, adding: "We wouldn't allow it to be used for amoral purposes."

The Friends Meeting House is not included in the sale, and the burial place of William Penn at Jordans is not within the curtilage of the land to be sold.

[Stella]

[Nick]

[quote="Stella"]

[BillSamuel]

Maybe it is best for Old Jordans to be sold. When I looked at its Web site, and this is partly reflected in what has already been in this thread, it is quite clear that it is something of a mockery of Quakerism. It seems to be run as basically an elite sort of enterprise, catering to vanities which Quakers disdain, and to drinking.
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Bill Samuel, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Co-Coordinator, Friends in Christ

[Pulpculture]

To keep you updated with the events:





Here is a report from the 10th May 2005 on the rebuilding process.

The Meeting House has been made safe from further collapse and is now awaiting restoration work. Scaffolding has now been erected around it and a "tin hat" will soon follow - a roof of corrugated iron, which will protect the inside of the building and enable it to dry out from the soaking it got when the fire was put out, and the subsequent wet weather. The insurers will pay for the complete cost of the restoration, which will enable the front part of the building - the Meeting Room - to be restored to its former state, which is a requirement because of its Grade 1 listed status. The contents of the Meeting House, which include the wooden benches and furniture, and the historic books and documents in the gallery, were almost completely undamaged by the fire, although the ceiling has been damaged by tiles and burning timbers falling through it.

It is likely to be some eighteen months - i.e. towards the end of 2006 - before the Meeting House can again be used for worship. Meanwhile the Quaker Meeting for Worship takes place every Sunday at 10.30am in Jordans Village Hall, Green West Road, Jordans Village and anyone is welcome to come and join us.

The back wing of the Meeting House, which includes the library, the warden's flat, and the kitchen and children's room, was almost completely gutted by the fire, and members of Jordans Meeting have specified how they would like to have this part of the building restored to bring it up to present day standards, and to meet the present needs of the Meeting. Some fund raising will probably be required when we have an estimate of what this part of the work will cost, over and above what the insurers are able to pay for. When this is clearer a fundraising effort for this will be mounted. There will be a restored library and an area for displays of information about the heritage of Jordans.

Members of Jordans Meeting would like to thank friends everywhere for all the messages of support they have received following the fire.
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http://www.dontforgetburma.org/