Gallery door

The gallery door is a door sometimes found on the rear wall of Friends meeting houses. This door, usually located on the north wall, provided exterior access for ministers, elders, overseers, and the clerk to the gallery. Often during funerals, the casket was taken out of the building through the gallery door as well. Cottage Plan meeting houses often have a centered gallery door, while Quaker Plan meeting houses have separate gallery doors for the men and women. The gallery door was predominantly an 18th century phenomenon, although one was included in the construction of the Centre MH in Winchester VA (1872).

In the late 20th century, the label "saddle door" emerged for this door. The idea was that Friends could dismount from a horse directly through the door and into the meeting house. While the idea appears at first glance to have merit, Friends would not have allowed horses to wander in the meeting house yard during the worship. Furthermore, many meeting house with gallery doors have stairs there leading down to grade, which would complicate dismounting from a horse.