THE race is on to secure the future of an historic meeting house in Addingham, once home to the Quakers.

Farfield Friends Meeting House has been given a £30,000 face lift by the London-based Historic Chapels Trust. But now the trust wants local people to get involved in bringing the building back into use and has organised a public meeting next month.

It wants groups and organisations to consider using the building as a place for their get-togethers, as well as opening it up as a tourist attraction.

"We hope that people will visit it because it's so near the Pennine Way," said Jennifer Freeman, director of the Historic Chapels Trust.

"It's a charming little building but we don't get very many visitors and we would like more people to use it."

Farfield Friends Meeting House was built in 1689 when Anthony Myers, a yeoman of Catgill, near Bolton Abbey, gave land to the Quakers to create a burial ground.

Part of the land was used as such, but they also built the small meeting house as a family chapel.

In the grounds of the building there are several large table tombs of the Myers family, almost unique in a Quaker burial ground.

The stone-built meeting house remains much as it did in the 1600s, but has undergone extensive refurbishment.

The outside of the building has been re-pointed with similar materials used in its original construction, the roof has been repaired, the inside has been painted, and it has been treated for woodworm and damp.

When the trust originally took over the building it discovered rustic wooden benches which dated back to the same period as the meeting house.

These have now been refurbished and stand inside along with several other benches, including one donated by the Skipton Friends.

Jennifer said the trust was hoping to create a small car park on land at the rear of the building to help bring it back into use as a meeting house.

"What we're trying to do is have a few more activities held there, such as meetings of local groups and organisations," she added.

"We can offer them modest facilities and we have put in an electricity point. We feel that it would be wonderful if the building was brought back into use once more."

The public meeting to discuss the future of Farfield Friends Meeting House takes place on October 5 at 7pm at the house off Bolton Road.

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