A historic building in St Austell is moving with the times – by having a greener heating system fitted.

The Quaker meeting house in High Cross Street in the town centre conservation area has gained listed building consent from Cornwall Council to replace its gas central heating with a system using an air source heat pump (ASHP).

Tony Faragher, on behalf of the Quaker religious denomination, told the council: “In order to provide a comfortable environment for all those who use the meeting house, we wish to install an ASHP system in line with Cornwall Area Quaker Meeting’s aspiration to reduce carbon in all our activities.

“Gentle heating of the building will ensure the continued life of the building. There are no implications for access to the building as the main access is unaltered.”

The meeting house was built in 1829 and gained protection as a listed building in 1950. Among the materials used in its construction were Pentewan stone and Cornish granite.

The property retains many of its original features such as the central flagstone corridor, the elders’ bench, wooden panelling and symmetrical sash windows.

The meeting house is closely related to the Truro Meeting House, built in 1825, and both share the same platform and elevation design.

Originally the meeting house in St Austell consisted of two meeting rooms separated by a corridor flanked with screens.

The premises have undergone a number of upgrades over the years. In 1959, electricity was installed and in 1983 a kitchen was provided along with a new entrance and cloakroom.

In the early 2000s, the lobby was extended to provide toilets and a boiler house for new central heating, while in 2006 permission was granted for the creation of an accessible toilet and the installation of new gates in the boundary wall.

The large meeting room has four sash windows of 24 panes each. These were replaced in 2016 on a like-for-like basis. They were not the original windows.

More recently, the side and rear boundary walls have been repaired in accordance with listed building planning consents.

In 1970, the Quaker Burial Ground at Tregongeeves was acquired by the local authority for road widening. The burials which dated back to 1664 and the gravestones were moved to the attached burial ground at the St Austell meeting house. The site has been a burial ground since 1829, and the gardens are carefully kept and maintained.

A spokesperson for the Quakers said: “The Quaker Friends at St Austell place great value on our meeting house and appreciate its beauty and its heritage.

“We have a premises committee which ensures that repairs are carried out and ensures that the integrity of the building is maintained. It is our place of worship.”

The air source heat pump will be placed at the rear of the building. Such heat pumps work by extracting heat from the air and transferring that heat to the inside of a property.

St Austell Town Council raised no objections to the scheme at the meeting house.