Quaker Meeting House

38 Elmbank Crescent  G2 4PS

Architects Unknown, c.1850, c.1920, 1992

The only original 1850s terrace left in the street! This former private home, originally owned by North British Railway, still boasts many original features including plasterwork and a roof light. Discover its previous tenants and the history the building holds.

The Quaker Meeting House was originally built as a private house in the 1850s in a  terrace row of six.  Some of the original plasterwork and roof light over the stairs remain visible to this day.  At the back there is a blocked off window, which may once have been a sewing room above the butlers pantry.  By the time of the 1881 census the property was occupied by a man and his two sisters.  The terrace was purchased by North British Railway Company in the early 20th century who let the properties out as part of their investment portfolio.  Tenants of No. 38 included and arts and crafts collective who set about decorating the interior with extravagant murals.  The records of the Royal Artillery Club who rented the building from the 1920s onwards, reveal the RACs consternation at the previous occupants choice of interior decor.  Terrazzo was added to the ground floor as was part of the fashion in the 1920s.  When the RAC eventually decided to purchase the property outright in 1947 the new owners set about reducing the height of the ceilings, probably to save on heating costs, and used the rooms as bars and games rooms, for meeting and socialising.  There was a beer store at the back where barrels could be rolled in from the car park.  Previously this had been a walled area and when the building had been heated by coal fires the coalman had tossed the sacks over the wall here and the club members carried them to the coal cellar under the bottom staircase.  When the Quakers took over the building in 1992, 65 years of sepia stains of beer and tobacco were scoured away and the false ceilings removed to reveal the plasterwork hidden above.  The original fine art plasterwork in the original front room now named the Elizabeth Fry room remains hidden under a false ceiling.

Number in Brochure: 26

Opening Times

Sat 10am 5pm

Access

Restrictions on Access: Basement level.

Full Disabled Access
Access at rear of building.

Facilities

Disabled Toilet
Toilets
Hearing Loop
Refreshments Available

Getting Here

Nearest Train or Subway Station(s): Charing Cross

Parking: On Street Parking Available Charges Apply
Multistorey car park in Elmbank Crescent

Contact

0141 248 8493

[email protected]

www.quakerscotland.org/glasgow

Map

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Quaker Meeting House

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Quaker Meeting House
55.864431, -4.268885