LAST week’s place of worship was the Airton Quaker Meeting House, as identified by Anne Close and John Asher, who says perhaps we ought to disqualify all Quakers, like him, who know it and love it well!

There is much to love about the building; its website say it was built in the early 17th century, probably in about 1610, as a semi-clandestine meeting place for an unknown group of dissenting worshippers who may have identified themselves as ‘Seekers’.

By the mid 1650s it was in regular use for Quaker meetings for worship. It is both one of the oldest Dissenter places of worship in Britain and one of the earliest Quaker meeting houses.

Although constructed to look like a stone barn, the absence of any door facing onto the street, concealed entrance in what should be the building’s rear face and exterior stone bench indicate that its intended purpose has always been that of an assembly hall.

“Successful efforts to obscure the origin and original purpose of the building have left uncertainties about its early history,” says the website.

“Most probably it was constructed by Josias Lambert, father of the future Major General Lambert, who was active in Oliver Cromwell’s circle during the English Civil War.

“It was purchased from the Lambert family in 1700 by Quakers William and Alice Ellis, who endowed it to Quaker trustees.

“ In about 1694, the Ellises refurbished the interior of the Meeting House, including installing oak wall panelling and a room divider with drop shutters. More extensive improvements were made in 1710 by Alice Ellis.”

What about this solid looking church above? Suggestions by 8am on Monday to news@cravenherald.co.uk