The building, which dates from 1805, replaced an earlier meeting house of 1690 what was then a small fishing village on the Sussex coast.

[5] When the meeting house opened, it included a graveyard, but its size was significantly reduced when Prince Albert Street was built in 1838.

[4][7] There are twin arched entrances in a covered porch, which has an entablature carved with the words friends' meeting house.

[7] The attached cottage and adult education centre are included in English Heritage's listing for their "group value"[7]—they are considered architecturally complementary to the meeting house.

The cottage is on the south side of the meeting house, and has a slate roof and exterior Flemish bond brickwork decorated with flint and stone dressings.