Equippers Church has started extensive work at Trinity Hall, at the bottom of Victoria Road, after purchasing the building earlier this year.
The red-brick building was constructed in 1899 as Trinity Presbyterian Church and still contains numerous original Victorian features.
Work has begun to uncover and restore features hidden by later alterations, including stained-glass windows, a hardwood herringbone floor and an impressive timber roof. The building had most recently been home to Inquisitive Minds Pre-school and Day Nursery, has moved to Upham Road.
Before Equippers took over the site, plans had been approved to create offices and 13 flats. Permission has since been granted for Trinity Hall to return to religious use.
Equippers was handed the keys during the summer and services are already being held inside while volunteers, builders and architects work on the wider project.
Jamie McNutt, from Equippers Church, said:
“Our plans for Equippers Church are to make this space a welcoming home for the community, where people can come and feel accepted, and also find a space to grow and learn.”
On the original main church level, modern partitions are being removed with the intention of creating a large open space. A modern raised floor is also hiding an original hardwood herringbone floor, a section of which has already been uncovered.
Equippers hopes to eventually use the area as a community café and flexible events space. Location pastor Ben Crathorne described the planned area as the future “living room of the church”. He said:
“The long-term goal would be to have a community café that can open right into the street here in the town centre, open up for the community, but also a space that can be used for any events that are happening here.
“The people that come here will feel at home, feel like this is the place they belong, a place they can connect with people.”
The church hopes that part of the project could be completed within the next year. Another complete floor was inserted across the former church interior at some point in the building’s history, creating what is now the main auditorium.
The alteration cuts across the lower section of some of the original stained-glass windows, but the Victorian timber roof remains above. Local historian Graham Carter visited Trinity Hall alongside fellow historians Royston Cartwright, Jason Spickett and Rosa Matheson .
He said the church was closely linked to Scottish workers who moved to Swindon during the expansion of the Great Western Railway.
“It’s part of Swindon’s railway history really, because it was originally the Presbyterian Church, which was a lot of Scottish people coming to Swindon to work for the GWR, and they brought their church with them really,” he said.
After seeing the interior, Graham said:
“I’m amazed. I’ve been in a lot of churches in Swindon. There are some really impressive ones, but this could be the most impressive.
“It’s stunning when you come in and look at the roof and everything. It’s incredible.”
He added: “This has got to be possibly the greatest roof in Swindon.”
Equippers intends to create an auditorium for around 300 people, with stackable seating allowing it to host performances and community events as well as church services.
Its fundraising campaign describes plans for a 280-seat auditorium, community café, improved accessibility, youth facilities and provision for people with additional needs.
Jamie said:
“We were really overwhelmed by how beautiful it was, and just that this place is going to be restored back to its original purpose, which is a place of worship.
The church is working towards potentially launching the completed upper-floor facilities around April 2027, although it has stressed that the date has not been confirmed.
Trinity Hall later became part of Central Church, Swindon, with the congregation using the Victoria Road building from 1978 until moving to the newly built Pilgrim Centre in 1990.
Royston said he was surprised by what remained inside the building.
“Unbelievable,” he said.
“When I was invited here, I was expecting to see a normal church. This is something completely different.”
Rosa said:
“Discovering history is exciting, like coming here today and seeing this incredible building and meeting people who are passionate about returning it to its historical roots.”
The building also stands beside the scene of one of Swindon’s most notorious transport disasters.
On Friday 1st June 1906, a packed tram carrying passengers returning from the Bath and West Agricultural Show ran out of control on Victoria Road and overturned at Regent Circus.
Five people were killed in the crash. Electric trams had begun operating in Swindon in 1904 and remained in service until 1929, when they were replaced by buses.
Equippers says it spent around two years searching for a permanent home after outgrowing its previous premises. Ben said an anonymous Christian had written to the church suggesting Trinity Hall before an opportunity to purchase the building arose. When it later returned to the market, church leaders went to view it.
“As soon as we walked in, we were like, ‘This is the space’,” he said.
“The location is amazing. We want to be in the heart of Swindon, but also, as a building, it’s historic.”
Equippers Swindon joined the wider Equippers movement in July 2024, having previously been known as JD Church Swindon.
Equippers Church continues to raise funds for the Trinity Hall renovation, including restoration of its stained-glass windows and work to create the auditorium and community areas.
