05/23/2026
William Hancock, grandson of John Hancock, who had purchased 1,000 acres of land on the south side of Alloways Creek from John Fenwick in 1681, deeded 1-1/2 acres of this land for the building of this meeting house in 1753. It was Judge William Hancock for whom the village was named and who was mortally wounded by the British during the infamous massacre at the William Hancock House in March
1778. This is the third meetinghouse built by the Lower Alloways Creek Quakers. The east half was built in 1756, the west side in 1784. The interior is divided into men’s and women’s sections for business meetings by triple sash partitions which can be raised or lowered with a rope. Most wainscoting is original and dates to 1784. West and north end batten doors are original, as are the saddle doors which, by tradition, allowed women members to dismount from a horse carriage directly into the meetinghouse. On the west gable, a date stone made of Jersey red sandstone marks the construction year 1784. The first meeting house and its interior are original, built with local materials.
The bricks were made near the site. The bench pads are of homespun linen filled with wool or corn husks. The stoves are made of iron dug from the river at Batsto. Some of the windows are of Wistarburg glass. The buttonwood trees surrounding the meetinghouse are said to have been planted as lightning protection. The Alloways Creek Meeting was small but very active until membership dwindled during the 19th and 20th century. The last official business was conducted in 1938, and the meeting was officially “laid down” in 1951.
Lower Alloways Creek Friends Meeting House, c. 1756-84, Hancock’s Bridge, Salem County, New Jersey.
