3 St Giles Church

2 Church Street

Church Street links London Street with Southampton Street. It was at the heart of the old southern part of the town. On the south side of the street is a modern housing development, while on the right is a series of older buildings including the Friends Meeting House.

The modern houses are on the site of the factory which made the tins for Huntley and Palmers biscuits. Although nowadays the town is remembered for the biscuits, Huntley and Palmers would not have been world famous if it had not been for the tins into which the biscuits were packed. Not only did the tins keep the biscuits fresh for a long time, but they also protected them from becoming damaged. Before biscuits were kept in tins, the only biscuits that would keep were hard and difficult to eat. There are stories of sailors who always tapped their biscuits hard before eating them so that the beetles would fall out first. On the other hand, some sailors preferred the taste with the beetles still inside the biscuit!

The buildings on the north side of Church Street date from the early nineteenth century. Set back from the street behind the black gates is the Friends Meeting House. The Religious Society of Friends was started after the English Civil War. They believe in silent meetings, with no hymns, prayers or sermon and have no one person to lead worship. Friends rose and spoke if they thought that God told them too. When they spoke they often shook, and so became known as Quakers.