Banbury Open Weekend

Banbury Meeting House enjoyed a steady stream of visitors over the weekend and one of the comments heard more than once was that it was 'lovely to see the meeting house buzzing with people'. It was generally felt that the weekend was a success and was worth the frantic putting together of the displays, exhibitions and organising the event.


Janice gave a talk about the history of the Quakers in Banbury, which was well received and certainly surprised a few people as to how richly Quakers and their legacies are woven into the town. The talk was complemented by a walk around the town with local historian Brian Littlejohn on Sunday afternoon, for which the weather held out for us.

Inside the Meeting House, were provided drinks and cakes which went down well and stalls displaying a selection of Quaker publications, a number of items celebrating the Quaker tapestry, books, fairtrade items and plants.

It was interesting to see cautious faces coming into the Meeting House, perhaps unsure of what they would find, soon relaxing as they enjoyed tea and cake and curiosity leading to conversation about the building and the Quakers in Banbury. More than once it was heard, 'I wonder what this building used to be?' and then surprise when they learnt that our Meeting House is the oldest place of worship in the town and how far back it dates; others commented 'I have walked past so many times and have often wondered what was inside'.

The exhibition at the Meeting House and the local museum appeared to attract interest and we are thrilled that the library wants to take the exhibition to display in its reference section. It is also a good opportunity to thank St Mary's church and the Banbury Operatic society for their assistance in providing exhibition stands at very short notice.

We hope that we really have 'reached out' and will wait to see if we see new faces in the coming weeks at Meeting.