The Old Church/The Church on the Corner - (otherwise known as Corporation Road Forward Movement)

There were huge changes taking place in Maindee, Newport during the early 1960s. Llanwern Steelworks had a massive impact on the neighbourhood, attracting new workers to build it and later work in it when it opened in 1962.

The demographic of Maindee changed with the influx of people coming to work there.  Lorries thundered up and down Corporation Road all day, laden with shale to provide the foundations to the steel works which were to be built on reclaimed land. This affected the old Church building which had been built with virtually no foundations, damaging it so badly that it had to be demolished. 

The building of a new community church accessible to all members of the community became the focus of much of Cyril Summers’ vision for the next few years. 

The decision to develop a new community church was a collective one with the involvement of elders and members of the church and also consultation with the local community.  There were many challenges to face, including securing funding,  designing the new building , winning over people who could not understand Cyril's vision and ensuring that building a community of people was as important as building the bricks and mortar.