Elim Bible College Swimming Pool, Nantwich

Elim Pentecostal Church in Nantwich is part of the broader Elim Pentecostal Church movement, a UK-based Pentecostal denomination founded in 1915 by Welsh evangelist George Jeffreys during the early Pentecostal revival in Britain and Ireland. Elim now has hundreds of congregations across the UK and worldwide.

The Nantwich congregation is located at Regents Park on London Road. The buildings that now form the Elim church and Regents Business Park have a longer and varied history of community use. Prior to their association with Elim, the site was home to St Joseph’s School for Roman Catholic Boys, which served Catholic families in Nantwich and the surrounding area. During its time as a school, the building functioned as an important educational and social centre, reflecting the strong presence of Roman Catholic education in the town during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

While still serving as a church today—offering regular Sunday worship, youth activities, and community support groups—the site also includes a variety of facilities and local businesses collectively known as Regents Business Park. This mix of church and commercial space allows the historic buildings to continue serving the community in diverse and practical ways.

In the late 20th century, the site became home to another significant educational institution: Elim Bible College, which later became Regents Theological College. From 1987 until 2009, the campus provided residential training for students pursuing theological education, ministry leadership, and vocational development within the Elim movement and other Christian denominations. The college included classrooms, student accommodation, and various amenities to support both academic and extracurricular activities.

An interesting feature of the former college campus was its indoor swimming pool. Measuring 15 metres by 7 metres, the pool was primarily intended for use by students and staff during the college’s operation. After the college relocated to Malvern in 2009, the pool fell into disuse and was no longer regularly available to the public.

In 2012, a local swimming tuition company, FineSwimming, took on the renovation of the pool with plans to refurbish the facility at a cost of approximately £60,000. Their intention was to offer swimming lessons and group sessions under a long-term lease, with the option to purchase the pool from Elim. Despite these efforts, the pool has remained unused and has since fallen into a state of disrepair.