Acresford Methodist Church
Acresford, Leicestershire
The church is in the former stores and maltings of Acresford Brewery, and because of its history and uniqueness in being located in a row of terraced cottages it is a Methodist Heritage Site.
Hill Street Baptist Church is at the lower end of Hill Street in Swadlincote, just across from the end of the High Street. It was founded in 1867.
The church is built of red brick with cream coloured stone facing to the windows and doors, complemented by matching horizontal banding of the same material. The shorter side, facing the road, has two round-arched doorways, on either side of which is a double window; and above the whole is a larger mock-venetian window with an encircling arch. There are stone plaques above the doors, which are inscribed "Baptist Chapel 1876". The sides are long, with 5 bays, 4 of which have double windows, and it appears there is an extension, built perhaps at a later date.
e are also home to a magnificent pipe organ which is operated under the care of the South Derbyshire Organ Trust. During the war several aerial mines were dropped and one landed in a clay hole behind the church. All the windows were blown out and the glass was replaced with all kinds of second-hand pieces.
The church has been extended and modernised over the years so that it now includes:
• A church for worship, with lots of pews with cushions downstairs providing close fellowship, and a gallery round four sides upstairs that allows for the largest events. The building is well heated, it has disabled access, and we use a digital projector and a screen and a PA system including a Loop for those with hearing aids.
• A large hall big enough for games of basket ball and badminton!
• A room which houses our Clothes Bank
• A room which houses our Community Pantry
• A few storage rooms
• Vestry
• An up-to-date kitchen
• Modern toilets
At the front you can see our church buildings which are mostly used for Sunday worship. Beside us is our car-park – there might even be a space for you! and there is parking on Hill Street itself. Our Church Hall is behind the church (you can see the entrance to it in the far corner of our car park) and the setting for week-day meetings and events reaching from the youngest to the oldest. Do explore our website to see what’s going on in and around the family that is “Hill Street” – we’d love to welcome you as a part of it this year!