Monument record 1160/0/563 - Friends Meeting House and Burial Ground, Crack Bowl Lane

In 1662 the Quakers purchased a barn, messuage and garden in Crackbowl Lane. A meeting was established in 1668 and probably used the existing buildings. The garden was used as a burial ground. They moved to Kingswell Street in 1705. Crackbowl Lane is not easily located today. Varying sources indicate it was a southwards continuation of Fetter Lane or east of Cow Lane (now Swan Street).

{1} Locates Crack Bowl Lane as a southern continuation of Fetter Lane.

{2} In 1662 Friends purchased a barn, messuage and adjoining garden in Crackbowl Lane (now Swan Street). A meeting was established in 1668 and probably used the buildings, while the garden was used as a burial ground. In 1705 a meeting house was built on a new site in Kingswell Street.

{3} The Quakers established a trust for their burial ground in Crack Bowl Lane in 1677 when they purchased an orchard and garden from Edward Cowper. Sadly the precise location is uncertain because Crack Bowl Lane is not easily identifiable today. An early 18th century deed in another collection refers to it as an alternative name for Fetter Street. However these deeds refer to the lane being to the north of the burial ground with Cow Lane to the east. Fetter Street is to the west of Cow Lane. In 1683 an adjacent house and ground were added under a second trust, purchased from John Mulliner and Alexander Manning. The house had previously been a barn. Deeds for the barn run back to 1662 and the 1662 deed records conveyances of 1656 and 1640. The house that succeeded it had been demolished by 1703.

<1> Cox Rev.J.C., 1898, Records of The Borough of Northampton, p. 519 (Book). SNN3420.

<2> Burton, N, 2016, Friends Meeting House, Northampton: Building Survey, 2016 (Report). SNN110639.

<3> Miscellaneous documents, Burial ground in Crack Bowl Lane, Northampton; Ref: SF/190-206 (NRO) (Document). SNN57469.

Record last edited

Mar 5 2025 8:59AM