St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury

Details

Accessibility

• Disabled access ramp installed on a gentle gradient at St. Chad's main entrance, adjacent to the stepped entrance,  from the church car park.
• St Chad's is wheelchair-accessible at ground floor level only. Staircase-access only to the first floor Gallery and to the Organ loft. A stair lift is installed on staircase leading to the Church meeting room. 
• A wheelchair is available on loan to  church visitors - on application to the Church Office. 
• Induction Hearing-Loop installed within the Church. ( set hearing aids to their 'T' setting ). 
• Church Services Sheets and Church Guidebooks are available in large print and in braille for visually-impaired visitors. To request these, visitors should speak to the churchwarden or a church 'sidesperson' on duty during their visit. 
•  Disabled toilet. Baby Changing Facilities

Brief description

The beautiful church of St. Chad's, Shrewsbury, is a 'Grade 1' listed building, by  the Scottish architect  George Steuart,  which was completed and opened in 1792 to replace the old, 13th century St Chad's Church nearby, which had collapsed. Charles Darwin, the famous Naturalist, was baptised at St. Chad's  which he attended as a child with his mother. 

St Chad's has a number of unique and other interesting features  for visitors, including: 

• The main body of the church is circular with the pews arranged in a circle around a central Nave.
• First floor Gallery, supported on pillars, with additional pews.
• Several lovely painted glass and stained glass windows, including the Sanctuary Window at the eastern end of the church, which is a copy in painted glass  by David Evans, a local artist of a 'tryptch'  painting by the famous artist Rubens, in Antwerp. 
• Arts and Crafts style pulpit. 
• St. Aiden's Chapel which was dedicated in 1952 to the local Shropshire military regiment of   King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. (now part of the modern-day 'Rifles' Army Regiment). St Aiden's Chapel is to be found on the right of the Outer Vestibule, just inside St. Chad's main entrance. 
• Church Bell Tower - St Chad's welcomes visiting bellringers who would like to join in a quarter peal to contact St Chad's bellringers  through bells@stchadschurchshrewsbury.com, to request a rope.
• Magnificent church organ installed on the first floor Gallery at the west end of the Church. 
• The headstone prop of 'Ebenezer Scrooge's ' which is in St Chad's churchyard , which was the location of the famous 1984 Film version of Charles' Dickens' ' A Christmas Carol', starring George. C. Scott as Scrooge. 

St. Chad's also normally holds a regular series of free lunchtime, musical concerts( donations welcome.) - see St. Chad's website for further details* . (* as at May 2021 subject still to UK Government's COVID-19 restrictions). 

St. Chad's nowadays is partnered with neighbouring St. Alkmund's Church, Shrewsbury, and St Mary the Virgin's C. of E. Church, Shrewsbury with whom it shares  the same Pastor.

Address

St Chad's Terrace, Shrewsbury SY1 1JL

Email

info@stchadschurchshrewsbury.com. 

Phone

01743 365478

St. Chad's Church office is usually manned 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. daily (Monday- Friday) but staff may be called away. 

Website

St. Chad's C.of E. Church, Shrewsbury, 

There is also an interactive map of St. Chad's available for visitors at: Link

Directions

St. Chad's is situated just off the A5191 road and close to the A458 road in Shrewsbury town centre. It is opposite Quarry Park (home of Shrewsbury Flower Showground)  and near to the River Severn. St Chad's is 0.6 miles (0.9 kms)  from Shrewsbury Railway Station (approximately 13 minutes walk) and 0.5 miles (0.8 kms) from Shrewsbury bus station. 

Opening Times

Please always check with the venue directly for up-to-date information including opening times as they may be subject to change.

Subject to confirmation of relaxation of the UK Government's national COVID-19 restrictions, St. Chad's Church intends to resume its Services inside the church building from Sunday, May 23rd 2021. (As at May 2021 maximum numbers permitted to attend services are limited and pre-booking via the church office is required please). 

A series of Lunchtime Concerts are also planned  to resume at St. Chad's Church, from late Spring 2021, subject to the  national COVID-19 restrictions being lifted. Concerts are informal and free of charge (though donations are welcome), and begin at 1 p.m..

Transport

By Train: Shrewsbury Station is 0.3 miles  from St. Chad's Church (approx. 6-8 minutes' walk).  The Station has step-free access to all platforms - there is lift access available to platforms 3 - 7 inclusive (The lift to Platform 3 is accessible from the front of the station. The lift to Platforms 4 to 7 is situated at the end of the subway beyond the ticket barriers). The station is manned daily during opening hours  with the following facilities available: 

• Ladies, Gents and Disabled toilets - the disabled toilets (accessible by national 'Radar key') are located on platform 4A. 
• Refreshment facilities
• Wheelchairs 
• Car Park available.

No waiting room and no baby-changing facilities are available. A taxi rank is available outside the Station.

By Bus - A number of bus services ( including X4, X5, 436) call at bus stops near Shrewsbury railway station  and near St. Chads along their routes.For bus service times and route planner see: Arriva UK Bus | Buy Bus Tickets & Check Live Bus Timetables (arrivabus.co.uk)

Amenities

• Visitors toilets including  Disabled Toilet, located in the Outer Vestibule within the main entrance to St. Chad's. 
• Baby Changing Facilities
• St Chad's has its own small car park. 

There are also a number of 'pay and display' public car parks within walking distance in the town centre - several of these have disabled parking bays. Further details: 

• Find my nearest car park | Shropshire Council
• Shrewsbury Wyle Cop NCP Car Park
• Official Shrewsbury Train Station Car Park - TFW (ncp.co.uk)

Refreshments - St Chad's Church has no refreshment facilities; however a good range of cafes, restaurants and bars as well as Visitor Accommodation is to be found within Shrewsbury town centre and the surrounding area.