Royal Photographic Society Talk-Walk-Talk Project Sites of Religious Significance 2026
BRIGFLATTS QUAKER MEETING HOUSE SEDBERGH
BRIGFLATTS QUAKER MEETING HOUSE SEDBERGH
Brigflatts occupies a significant position in Quaker heritage. In 1652 the hamlet was visited by George Fox, founder of the Religious Society of Friends, who was journeying North on foot in his search for truth. Here he sought out the Westmorland Seekers, a group disillusioned with the established church of the time and seeking a new way to express their belief. During his visit Fox preached in the nearby churchyard of Sedbergh Church and addressed an open-air meeting of seekers, speaking from a crag on the fellside now known as Fox’s Pulpit. This event is widely seen as the start of the Quaker movement. Fox settled a permanent meeting at Brigflatts later the same year and the Meeting House was built in 1675: the first purpose-built meeting house in England with a meeting that continues to this day.
During the Spring and early Summer of 2026, the Royal Photographic Society ran a Talk-Walk-Talk project on ‘Sites of Religious Significance’. This involved members across the UK and beyond in a three-stage experience: first, attending a talk to learn about the art of photographing sacred spaces; second, visiting a site of religious significance and making images there; third, discussing the images from the day and selecting one to contribute to a national collection. So a group of six photographers, guided by one who lives locally, walked to Brigflatts to explore the Meeting House and express their experience through their photography. The images in this collection are the result. Having selected one image for the national collection, the group has also made this shared record of their visit.
The photographers whose work is represented in this collection are: Jonathan Blakeley Suzy Braye Allie Crewe Douglas Johnson Gerard Liston Maureen Smith They can be contacted through suzy.braye99@gmail.com The image the group selected for the RPS national collection was by Maureen
The collection from the national Talk-Walk-Talk project on Sites of Relighious Significance can be viewed at: https://talkwalktalk.org/topic-gallery/693
Royal Photographic Society Talk-Walk-Talk Project Sites of Religious Significance 2026
BRIGFLATTS QUAKER MEETING HOUSE SEDBERGH