About us | Brief history | What we believe | Leaders
Brief history
Sixty
years ago Haydon Wick was a village. Older members of the congregation
still remember when it was quite separate from Swindon. Six decades of
development have rendered the original village almost invisible to all
but the children and parents of Haydon Wick school, worshippers at Emmanual
URC church, and visitors to the Fox and Hounds pub.
The origins of St John's go back some 30 years to the time when the people of St Mary's decided to set up a new church to minister to the new communities of Haydon Wick, Greenmeadow and Haydonleigh.
The first prefabricated building was located on the edge of old village.
A few years later, St Mary's decided both to rebuild and relocate the church so that it could be more visible to the communities it serves.
The
new St John's was designed for both worship and community use, having a
number of rooms of various sizes all under one roof.
Unfortunately, the attractive design of the exterior was not matched by the usefulness of the interior.
A multipurpose room with polished wood on all sides looked wonderful. But the echo was dreadful. It was like worshipping in a swimming pool!
Over the years we have developed the building four times.
St John's caters for many different groups within its walls. There is an active youth and children's work on Sundays. During the week many different community groups, from Brownies to Slimming World, occupy rooms within the building.
We love to see the building well used.
About us | Brief history | What we believe | Leaders
Page last updated: 26 July 2011