THE Quaker Meeting House in Malvern, close to the town centre, has been listed Grade II by Historic England.

The venue in Orchard Road is one of 11 across the country which have been listed or have had their grading uplifted.

The building was designed by J R Armstrong, architect of the Bournville Village Trust.

It is described as a “well-articulated Arts and Crafts design reflecting the tastes of the period and constructed using high quality materials,” which “expresses simplicity, appropriate for a Quaker building, in combination with restrained external and internal detailing”.

Quakers meetings are not recorded in Malvern until 1856, when a large room over a stable in Portland Road was used.

In 1937, the Society of Friends bought land in Orchard Road and appealed for funds to build a new meeting house, encouraged by the Cadbury family of chocolate fame.

The family attended meetings when on holiday in the area. The furniture in the building was designed and built by Brynmawr Furniture Makers, which had been formed by Quakers in Wales during the Depression in an attempt to relieve the mass unemployment and economic hardship of the time. The meeting house was formally opened on July 2, 1938, by Charles Cadbury.

Ingrid Greenhow, of the Religious Society of Friends, said: “I am delighted that Quaker places of worship are recognised as important elements in our national heritage.

“It is particularly heartening to see 19th and 20th century meeting houses being listed.”