Cradle at Swarthmoor Hall
The Cradle at Swarthmoor Hall, located in one of the hall's historic rooms, symbolizes the birth of Quakerism.
The cradle of Quakerism
Swarthmoor Hall is a mansion in Swarthmoor, Cumbria, in the north-west of England, built around 1568. By the mid-17th century, it was the home of the judge Thomas Fell and his wife, Margaret.
Founding Friend George Fox visited the hall in 1652. Thomas Fell was away on his judicial rounds at the time, so it was Margaret Fell who received Fox and grew interested in what he had to say.
She invited him to preach both at the hall and at St Mary's Church in nearby Ulverston. Many of those who heard him there were won over to the new faith.
Thomas Fell took longer to come round. On his return home, his wife and others encouraged him to hear Fox speak, and something in Fox's pro-Parliamentary sympathies struck a chord.
Fell was never fully convinced by the religious teaching itself, but he agreed to let his home be used as a meeting place for the new Friends.
Valiant Sixty
It was from Swarthmoor Hall that a band of travelling Quaker preachers known as the Valiant Sixty was coordinated, carrying Quakerism across England and Wales. The hall became known as the cradle of Quakerism as a result, and continued to host meetings until 1691, when a nearby meeting house was built.
Thomas Fell died in 1658, and 11 years later George Fox married Margaret, by then a widow. Fox died in London in 1691, and Margaret lived on at the hall until her own death in 1702.
The cradle itself was built in 1690. Posts at each end once held a net of string in place, stretched to stop the family cat from climbing in beside the baby.
The hall today
Swarthmoor Hall was bought by the London Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends in 1951, for £9,000, and remains in Quaker hands today. It is used regularly for courses and retreats.
There are also daily tours of the hall and its gardens. Inside, six historic rooms are open to visitors, each furnished with fine 17th-century pieces and other items linked to early Quaker history.
Swarthmoor Hall is currently managed by Friends House (London) Hospitality Ltd, a not-for-profit, ethical and sustainable trading company owned by the Quakers in Britain.
The annual Swarthmore Lecture takes its name from the hall, as does Swarthmore College, a Quaker foundation in Pennsylvania. Yet it is the cradle itself, plain and small in its quiet room, that carries the older story — a household, and a faith, both taking their first uncertain steps.
