A brief History of our Ilkeston site...
Larklands Mission - Park Road.
One of two 'Tin Tabernacles' to have stood in Ilkeston. This photograph shows the mission as it appeared in or around 1912 and features Reverend Mellors (seen on the right).(Photograph courtesy of Erewash Museum)
Source: www.ilkestonhistory.org.uk
This photo shows the first St. Mary’s (Larklands) Mission Church in around 1910. Corrugated iron churches such as this, popularly know as “Tin Tabernacles”, were usually a temporary structure until circumstances allowed the building of a permanent brick church. This Larklands Mission, opened on Sunday 17th January 1909, was actually a former engine-house at Kirk Hallam Waterworks.
The current church building, with its attractive bell tower, was built in 1913 and, after the closure of the Larklands Mission Church in the 1970s, was used as a pottery warehouse. Toddlers’ University was established in May 1997.
The advantage of a building like this is the large area of floor space which can be adapted to any size and shape of room giving your child the best possible facilities. A new first floor has been constructed giving us twice the area; this leaves many interesting features such as exposed beams, curved walls and the original shaped windows.
Toddlers' University Beeston:
We are currently researching the Beeston site so if you have any information you can offer we would be really interested to hear from you...