Hillsborough Trinity Methodist Church

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Hillsborough Trinity Methodist Church.

Hillsborough Trinity Methodist Church is situated in the Hillsborough area of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It stands four km north west of the city centre on Middlewood Road across from Hillsborough Park at grid reference SK330902.

[edit] History

The church was built at the beginning of the 20th century by John W. Firth to cater for the increasing population as it expanded into the countryside around Sheffield. The site was purchased from J. Willis Dixon of Hillsborough Hall (now Hillsborough library) in December 1898 for £547. An “Iron Church” was erected on nearby Leader Road and was used for temporary worship while the church was being built.

Hillsborough Trinity was designed in the Gothic style and cost £5,500, opening on 1st September 1902. The church was originally designated as Methodist New Connexion, one of the many factions of the original Wesleyan Methodist church, it merged into the main Methodist Church of Great Britain in 1932. Methodism reached its peak at the beginning of the 20th century when there were eight Methodist churches in the Hillsborough area. However Hillsborough Trinity is the only one remaining with the other seven having been demolished or now being used for other purposes. The church has changed very little externally over the years, although a new church hall was added in 1963. The interior of the church has been modified to cater for the needs of modern worship, the original balcony is now not used because of safety concerns.^[1]

[edit] Present day and future

The church has extensive adjoining buildings (engraved Sunday School, AD 1901) which are still used for Sunday School as well as Brownies, Boys' Brigade as well as many other community events such as coffee mornings, dancing and meetings. The present Minister, the Rev Maurice Stafford and his staff have plans for the future of the church to make it a major community building. The plans, as yet not finalised, could range from just a major refurbishment to a complete rebuild.^[2]

[edit] References