Jordans Quaker Meeting House in Welders Lane dates back to 1688 and has been visited by thousands of Quakers who regard the Grade 1 listed building as their spiritual home.
But on Friday (11 March 2005) the building was engulfed by flames which took almost three hours to get under control.
Four fire engines from High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross and Amersham attended the scene after 12.31 p.m. when a couple living in the adjoining flat were woken by their fire alarm.
The fire is believed to have started in the flat’s kitchen, which was built in the 1950s and spread to the Meeting House.
Jordans Youth Hostel, which is just around the corner from the house was evacuated amid fears that the fire would spread to its wooden huts. Manager, Nicola Lowe, said the couple had come to her for help.
“It was unbelievable”, she said. “Their phones were locked in the building and they came to us for help. Six of us went down there”.
The couple, who were the house wardens, were taken to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. The woman was later released, and the man was kept in for treatment to facial burns and for the effects of smoke inhalation.
A fire spokesman said “It appears that the man tried to fight the fire and that is
possibly why he was injured”.
The roof of the building was completely destroyed and the interior was left damaged but recoverable.
