Swarthmoor Hall
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![Entrance to swarthmoor hall with a welcoming sign stating "all are welcome" and indicating that the visitor centre and cafe are open today.]()
We have been working with the Society of Friends (The Quakers) on Swarthmoor Hall since early in 2022 when we undertook a strategic review looking at audiences, business planning, and interpretive structures. Easter 2024 saw the site reopen and the first phase of the new interpretation installed.
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![A historic desk and chair are within a wood-panelled room. On the desktop is a leather table cover that includes interpretation material.]()
To retain the 16th-century atmosphere of the interior of this historic house, the interpretation is introduced in ways that do not disrupt the setting while clearly providing accessible information. Here, we have created a faux leather tabletop with a selection of correspondence, imagery, and maps to explain Judge Fell's role in forming the Quakers.
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![A photograph of a dark timber dining table covered with printed yellow cloth and illustrations of plates, cutlery, and food introduces characters from the building's history.]()
A printed tablecloth introduces characters from the history of Swarthmoor Hall, imagining that eating and sharing food is at the heart of all conversations; the text introduces politics and persecution, recurring experiences for early Quakers.
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![Within a timber-panelled room, a person stands next to a table with a map.]()
A contextual map of the surrounding area of Swarthmoor Hall allows visitors to see where contemporary historical events took place.
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![The foreground is an external graphic panel with hand-drawn illustrations showing landscape features within a garden setting, a blue sky, green grass with small yellow flowers, and a child walking.]()
External graphics guide visitors through the site, providing way-finding and historical and contextual information.
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![Dark timber with carved panels and turned details sits in front of a triangular-shaped label with text description.]()
Simple labels are placed throughout the interior to describe historical features.
