If you’ve walked down Queen Parade recently, you might have spotted the knitted addition to one of the post boxes along the street.

Until closer inspection, you might not realise that the hand-crafted scene actually tells the tale of Quakerism, made by those who attend the Friends Meeting House in Harrogate.

Between September 28 to October 6, the annual celebration Quaker Week will be taking place – so ahead of the event, we’ve delved into the history of the movement in Yorkshire.

A brief overview of Quakerism

Quakerism – otherwise known as the Religious Society of Friends – was founded in the 17th century by George Fox, a dissenter from The Church of England who rebelled against the religious and political authorities of the time.

He was born in July 1624, in the strongly Puritan village of Drayton-in-the-Clay, Leicestershire, now renamed as Fenny Drayton. The eldest of four children, his father achieved a moderate wealth as a weaver and a churchwarden, so Fox’s upbringing was a comfortable one.

This made quite the contrast to the time period, which was far from stable. At the age of 18, and after a period working as cobbler and a shepherd, he moved out of the family home and to London.

The English Civil War had broken out the year before - 1642 - and the country was plunged into political and religious unrest. Fox only lasted a year in the capital city, before moving on to travel the country, a journey that would help to shape his burgeoning belief system.

In 1647 Fox began to preach publicly, especially across the North of England, about his interpretation of Christianity, which shunned many of the established practices of other denominations at the time.

Amongst these views were that tithes -aka taxes collected by church parishes - were immoral, that religious experiences were not confined to a single building, and that one did not have to study ecclesiastical academia in order to be a minister – which implied anyone could take up that mantle.

Both he and others in his movement were imprisoned many times throughout the latter half of the 17th century because of their unwavering belief in this new way of worship.

One such brush with the law may even be the origin for the name Quaker; in 1650 in Derby, he was sentenced to prison for blasphemy, where the judge mocked Fox and his followers for ‘trembling at the word of the Lord’, calling them ‘Quakers’.

Throughout the rest of his life, Fox travelled across Ireland and the USA, spreading the word about the Society of Friends. He died on January 13, 1691 at 66 years old, and is buried in a Quaker burial ground in Islington.

Today, members of local Quaker groups are still referred to as Friends, reflecting that there is no rank and file within meetings. Worship is conducted mainly in silence, unless someone is compelled to speak.

According the official Quaker website, it describes itself as 'a faith group committed to working for equality and peace' which includes taking a stance on environmental issues and supporting LGBTQIA+ rights. 

Quakers in Yorkshire

Quakerism took root in Yorkshire very early on in the movement, after Fox travelled the region between 1651-1652.

Amongst the most devout of Fox’s followers - those travelled with him as he took his sermons across the country – nearly a quarter heralded from Yorkshire. Many went on to be important community leaders, including Thomas Aldam and Richard Farnsworth of Balby, William Dewsbury of Allerthorpe, and James Nayler of West Ardsley.

The first national yearly meeting for Friends was reportedly held in Yorkshire, and a series of general meetings were held in Skipton in 1657, attracting Quakers from far and wide.

In 1701, a Friends Meeting House was established on Briggate in Knaresborough, which is now the site of the fire station. By the 18th century, records suggest nearly one percent of the population of Nidderdale identified as Quaker.

Harrogate’s first meeting house isn’t believed to have been founded until approximately 1830, with the first site being built on Oxford Street in 1854. After many additions and alterations over the next century, it was eventually sold, and the present meeting house was built on Queen Parade.

In York, chocolatier and social reformist Joesph Rowntree was one of the region's most well-known Quakers. He was lauded for his philanthropy and fair treatment of his workers, which included building New Earswick, a garden village outside of the city, to give employees a better quality of life.

Today there are approximately 400,000 Quakers worldwide, across 87 different countries. About 23,000 of those reside in the UK. The Harrogate Friends Meeting House estimates they have between 60 - 70 attendees who regularly attend Suday worship.

‘Simple. Radical. Spiritual'

Quaker Week 2024 is running this year with the same theme as last year of: ‘Simple. Radical. Spiritual’. This year’s celebration also coincides with founder George Fox’s 400th birthday.

The post box topper on Queen Parade is one of the ways local Friends are marking the occasion, as well as encouraging people from 'any faith or religion' to join a meeting, should they wish.

The knitted scene was designed at the Friends children's meeting, and brought to life in an arts and crafts group.

Paul Whitmore, warden at Harrogate Friends' Meeting House added:

Sources for this article include a post on quaker.org.uk, Yorkshire Quaker Heritage Project, published on hullhistorycentre.org.uk, a biography about George Fox on britannica.com, The History of George Fox, the transcript from a video published on quakerspeak.com, information found on the Harrogate Friends Meeting House website and a blog post on nycroblog.com. Thanks to Paul Whitmore from Harrogate Friends Meeting House for providing additional information for the piece.