Meeting House Lane
Walk up Meeting House Lane towards the railway station.
The Storey Institute
The Storey Institute on your right was built on the site of the Mechanics Institute of 1824. It was built in 1891, to a design by Paley and Austin, and paid for by Thomas Storey, so it became known as the Storey Institute. It was donated to the town in 1893 as a technical and science school, newsroom, library, art school and gallery and venue for musical recitals. In 1904, Thomas's son Herbert gave £10,000 to extend the Institute up Castle Hill.
Friends Meeting House
George Fox, founder of the Society of Friends (the Quakers) arrived in Lancaster in 1652 and he preached in the town. On one occasion he was chased to the house of John Lawson, the first Lancaster Quaker, in St Leonardgate. George Fox was brought to trial in the Castle in October 1652 accused of blasphemy but was acquitted. He was imprisoned several more times during the reign of Charles II. The Quaker community in Lancaster expanded in the 1670s and many Quakers were important merchants in the 18th century.
The first Meeting House was built in 1677. It was replaced by the current structure in 1708 which was further extended in 1779 and again in 1789-1790. The Friends/George Fox (Quaker) School occupied the Meeting House and other nearby buildings from 1690 until it closed in 1980.
John Lawson's gravestone can be seen inside the porch of the Meeting House.
Continue along Meeting House Lane to the railway station.
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