The churches of Loughborough - St. Peter's Centre

As I promised in my post on All Saint's Church Thorpe Acre with Dishley, here is the story of the St. Peter's Centre. In 1889, an iron mission church was built by Mr James Lee of Manchester, and dedicated by the Bishop of Leicester. This building, which was intended to be a temporary structure, is still standing. A Sunday school was also established at this time. Just three years later, the mission church was extended to double its original size. The foundation of a permanent Sunday school building was laid in 1896. By the turn of the century, however, a permanent place of worship became urgent.

In 1912, a new church building was completed, built of specially donated Mountsorrel granite, and was consecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough. It was designed by architects W. S. Weatherley of London and G. H. Barrowcliffe of Loughborough, who had also designed the Memorial Baths in Queen's Park, (now the Charnwood Museum,) the Carnegie Library in Granby Street, and the present United Reformed Church building in Frederick Street. The following year, St. Peter's became a fully instituted parish.

By 1966, the Sunday school was converted into a community centre, (which closed down last year). However, around this time, the church went into decline and eventually became officially redundant in 2004. The following year, churches were invited to propose future uses of the building, and by 2007,  a proposal put forward by Elim Pentecostal Church, formerly based at Ashby Road in a building that is now home to the Salvation Army church, and Open Heaven Church, were successful, and the St. Peter's Centre re-opened in 2013. The main church building was Grade II listed in February 2006.

These photos were taken in July 2021.

The iron mission church.