Methodist church

A very beautiful old building

Entrance at the back. It has lots of rooms to hire out as well as the church itself. Small car park at rear, pay car parks nearby.

The Methodist Church in Museum Street, Ipswich, is truly a unique building, quite an achievement in a town renowned for its old churches. The stonework loggia frontage is especially ornately detailed & remarkably so for one of the 'low church' faiths. Above the former front entrance there's also a big stained glass window, untypically large & ornate for a Methodist place of meeting. Although originally designed to be entered from Museum Street, nowadays public access is from Black Horse Lane, at the back via a car park. The rear of the church is red-brick & appears much more characteristic of the houses of the period when it was built in 1860. It was designed by Frederick Barnes, the architect of other churches around the town as well as the mainline railway stations between Ipswich & Cambridge, & the back of the building does have the look of a Victorian railway station. The Museum Street Methodist Church is the most central in Ipswich, but only a mile away from the impressive red-brick, Gothic Revival Methodist Church in Bramford Road. It's also sited near the back of the churchyard of St. Mary's at the Elms, the tower of which is clearly visible over the wall. At the time of building there were narrow passageways either side of the church between Museum Street & Black Horse Lane, but these have now been built over, serving to confuse where the proper access is located.

Attended a lecture here on the twelve medieval churches in Ipswich. Good venue for this. The front of this church is attractive but access is from the rear.