Leighton Road Evangelical Church is a

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

independent evangelical church located on the

Gainsborough estate Gainsborough is an area of Ipswich, in the Ipswich district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It was named after the artist Thomas Gainsborough of Sudbury, who lived in Ipswich for several years. He was noted for visiting the banks of the Orwel ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. Gainsborough estate is an urban priority area council housing estate on the south east side of Ipswich. The church building was erected on land bought from Ipswich Borough Council in 1935. Of local interest is a large oak tree, around 400 years old, at the front of the church. Although the tree does not currently have a

Tree Preservation Order A tree preservation order (TPO) is a part of town and country planning in the United Kingdom. A TPO is made by a local planning authority (usually a local council) to protect specific trees or a particular area, group or woodland from deliberate d ...

on it, it is believed locally to have been used by 19th century Suffolk heroine

Margaret Catchpole Margaret Catchpole (14 March 1762 – 13 May 1819) was a Suffolk servant girl, chronicler and deportee to Australia. Born in Suffolk, she worked as a servant in various houses before being convicted of stealing a horse and later escaping from Ips ...

to harness her horse to, on occasions. The church consists on one main chapel building of the mid-1930s which has recently been extended at the back with a small Sunday school room and disabled toilet added. It is not currently a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The church was previously known as Gainsborough Evangelical Free Church and Leighton Road Baptist Church, and is the only place of worship situated within the Gainsborough estate itself. The church has recently joined the

Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) is a network of 639 independent, evangelical churches mainly in the United Kingdom that preach an evangelical faith. History The FIEC was formed in 1922 under the name ''A Fellowship of ...

. The current trustees of the church are FIEC Ltd. The church is governed as an independent

Baptist church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

, with pastor and deacons. The current pastor is Brian Langston.

External links

Church webpage
{{coord, 52.0301, 1.1793, type:landmark_region:GB-SFK, display=title Churches in Ipswich