Addison Street Congregational Church

Addison Street Congregational Church stood in Nottingham’s Lace Market quarter, a red-brick Gothic building finished in 1884. Its congregation began in 1867 with an iron mission chapel on the same street. The new church cost £6,000 and opened on 27 February 1884. By 1966 the worshippers had moved to Sherwood Congregational Church and the Addison Street building closed. The last minister was Rev. Eric Way. After 1978 it became a warehouse before demolition left a gap for school playing fields. The church housed a fine pipe organ installed by Charles Lloyd. Herbert Stephen Irons gave the opening recital on 5 February 1885. Roger Yates enlarged the instrument in 1930. John Thornton Masser served as one of the church’s organists. The organ’s full specification survives in the National Pipe Organ Register. Its musical life ended when the building closed in 1966. Visitors today will find no trace of the church on Addison Street. The site now forms part of a school playground. The organ’s pipes were removed before demolition and are preserved elsewhere. The Lace Market’s Victorian streets still surround the spot, though the Gothic façade is gone. Only the memory of the 1884 opening and the 1930 enlargement remains.