Quakers, Alderbury

The earliest reference to Quakers (Society of Friends) in Alderbury is 1677 when Richard Hilliard was imprisoned for not attending the parish church, one of several prosecutions he and other society members were to face. In accordance with the Toleration Act of 1689 a licence was issued on 15 January 1690 allowing the house of Giles Spicer to be used for meetings. Alderbury Quaker meetings appear to have had some importance as they attracted members from Salisbury and other parishes in south Wiltshire and the Alderbury burial ground known as Quakers' Ten Acres was one of only two in the south of the county. It is not known when the society ceased but by 1717 the Salisbury Society (established approx 1697) was the only one remaining in south Wiltshire.