A mini history of Roundhay Meeting

The story of Roundhay Quakers begins in 1927 when a number of Friends from the meeting at Carlton Hill, in the middle of Leeds, decided to launch a new meeting for the benefit of those living on the north side of Leeds.

At first meetings were held in a café by the entrance to Roundhay Park. In this cramped accommodation, a dozen or so Friends and their children gathered each week, gaining steadily in strength and numbers. Sometimes there were not enough chairs for everyone, the surroundings were noisy and meeting was occasionally disturbed by people seeking morning coffee.

Our present premises were purchased in August 1931. By now Roundhay had a regular attendance of between thirty and forty and all the activities of a well established meeting.

By the mid fifties, with membership exceeding a hundred, the need for larger premises came under discussion once again and the result was a new meeting room, constructed in 1957, in the rear garden of the bungalow.

Today our membership is less than half what it was then but we are very much a thriving fellowship of Friends and are very grateful to all those who, over the years, have built up our Quaker community at Roundhay.