Quakers, Shaw Hill, Melksham Without

The home of Robert and Hester Marshman at Shaw Hill became an early centre for Quakers. It was far enough out of the town of Melksham not to attract official attention in the difficult years before the Toleration Act of 1688. The meeting is first recorded in 1669 when around 80 Friends were meeting there. The meeting attracted Quakers from a wide area and in January 1690 the home of Hester Marshman, Robert had died in 1679, was certified as a place of worship.

However from 1695 onwards no more meetings took place at Shaw Hill as meetings could now be freely held in Melksham. Shaw Hill, where Richard Marshman, son of John and Hester, had bought the Old Malthouse, remained a Quaker stronghold until the early 18th century. Next to the malthouse is a former Quaker burying ground (Marshman's Burying Ground) in which various members of the family and others are buried. Gravestones have been added by later members of the family, who probably became Baptists, and Hester is recorded as living to 102 years of age, dying in 1702.