St Thomas, Brightside facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St Thomas, Brightside
St Thomas, seen from the north west
Religion
Affiliation	Anglican
District	Diocese of Sheffield
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Church
Year consecrated	1854
Location
Location	Brightside, Sheffield South Yorkshire, England
Architecture
Architect(s)	Flockton & Son
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Gothic revival
Completed	1853
Construction cost	£1600 (£110,000 in 2021)
Capacity	400

St Thomas is a building in Brightside, Sheffield, England. It used to be an Anglican church, but now it's a special school where people learn circus skills!

Building a New Church

Brightside grew a lot after the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway opened in 1838. Many people moved there for work. But even with lots of people, Brightside didn't have its own Anglican church. People had to meet in a small room that could only hold about 70 people. Other churches, like Methodist ones, were much bigger.

So, people decided to build a new Anglican church. The Church Commissioners gave £100 to help. The total cost was £1600, and the rest of the money was raised by people giving donations.

How the Church Was Built

A kind person, Earl Fitzwilliam, gave about one acre of land for the church near Holywell Road. Building started in 1852. The church was finished in 1853. In 1854, the Archbishop of York, Thomas Musgrave, officially opened and blessed the church. This is called consecration.

The church was designed by Flockton & Son. They were local architects who had designed many buildings in Sheffield. The church was built in the Gothic revival style. This means it looked like older churches from the Middle Ages. It had a main hall called a nave and a smaller section called a south aisle. It also had a tall tower with a pointed top, called a spire, at one corner.

Changes Over Time

At first, St Thomas Church was part of a bigger church area called Grimesthorpe. But in 1864, it became its own separate church area, or parish. In 1873, a special memorial was put up for William Mannifield, who sadly died in an accident at the nearby Brightside Colliery.

New Designs and a New Purpose

Later, a designer named George Pace did a lot of work on the church. In 1957, he added new decorations. In the 1960s, he designed a new altar (the table used for services), a reredos (a screen behind the altar), and a lectern (a stand for reading).

In 1973, St Thomas Church was given a special status as a Grade II listed building. This means it's an important historical building that should be protected. However, the church closed in 1979 and was no longer used for church services.

In the 1980s, the building was used as the Sheffield School of Gymnastics. Then, in 1995, it got a big makeover as part of a TV show called Challenge Anneka. After that, it became a training center for the Greentop Circus! So, a building that was once a church is now a place where people learn amazing circus tricks.

See also

• Listed buildings in Sheffield
• List of Commissioners' churches in Yorkshire