Join us for worship this month as journey through the season of Easter towards Pentecost in June. All services will be in the building at Mayfield and Easthouses Church at 11am.
Services on 22nd and 29th May will be conducted by Rev Elisabeth Spence and will not be on zoom. With all pandemic restrictions now lifted and numbers on zoom being very low throughout May, the Kirk Session decided at their May meeting not to return to zoom in June.
Newtongrange Redevelopment Information Sheet
The redevelopment of Newtongrange Church has the aim of creating a “well-equipped space in the right place”.
Whilst remaining a vibrant place of worship Sunday by Sunday, the reopened church will continue through its ongoing work to support the village in marking times and seasons in the lives of individuals, families and society. To this end, the church will redevelop its ways of working, in partnership with others, as well as its building to meet the needs of the community.
The Church building sits prominently on Main Street in the heart of the village. A redeveloped multi-purpose building will attract increased usage and provide a Church with a well-equipped space at the heart of the village to serve the congregation and community for many years to come.
Having established the need for a building to house community groups and activities in the village, the project design has evolved to accommodate varying spaces which can be adapted to suit small, medium or larger groups; quiet rooms or more social set ups; with staged production or onsite catering capability.
All areas are designed to be fully accessible including new level access doors to the individual spaces within the Church. The new toilet facilities include baby changing and meet disability requirements. Induction hearing loops will be installed.
Each space will have its own audio-visual equipment to facilitate entertainment; notices / advertising; to presentation material. If needed for large congregations or audiences, the speakers and screens should all synchronise enabling the full building to be utilised without compromise for those furthest away from the speaker.
The full congregation / audience seating plan will accommodate in excess of 220. Sliding acoustic screens can create a separate sanctuary for smaller gatherings of around 90 allowing the remainder of the building to be simultaneously used by other groups.
The Church of Scotland following its green agenda is planning to use solar panels on its large south facing roof to power the Church. The heating and lighting will be designed to utilise this energy which will be stored in onsite batteries.
Externally the Church plans to reuse crushed demolition rubble to raise the levels of a new ramped access running around and linking the new glazed side doors to the main front door. The main front entrance will benefit from a welcoming glazed entrance and vestibule screens giving views from the outside to the far end of the Church’s chancel. Seven new trees are to be planted commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and a raised planter built to give some focus for themed congregation gardens. The remainder will remain grassed as outdoor activity space.
A new digital noticeboard is proposed, allowing the public to learn of all the forthcoming activities in the facility as well as acting as a community information point.
Through discussion with Midlothian Council, there is the potential of the village library relocating to the church site bringing added community benefits and co-location of compatible activities.
By redeveloping the building, we will have saved the heritage of the Church which was built for the mining community by the miners’ donations. It is hoped Newtongrange Church can become a destination on the National Mining Museum’s Heritage Trail.
We hope this redevelopment of such a well-known Newtongrange landmark will add to the accessibility, use, community benefit and heritage by truly becoming the vision of “a well-equipped space in the right place”.
