United Free Church, Main Street, Swinton

Begun 1859; opened 1860; converted for use as church hall from 1932; village hall later 20th century. Well-detailed gothic style former Free church comprising rectangular-plan, 5-bay nave; square plan tower to S (incomplete spire); gabled porch set behind; single storey vestry at rear. Squared and snecked tooled cream sandstone; sandstone ashlar dressings. Stepped out at base to front; raised base course in part to sides; moulded cill course; sandstone eaves course. Ashlar quoins; long and short surrounds to chamfered openings (trefoil-headed and pointed-arched); sandstone mullions to bipartites; chamfered cills. Out-of-character, flat-roofed toilet block adjoined to front.

SE (MAIN STREET) ELEVATION: projecting nave with 7 regularly spaced, trefoil-headed windows beneath central traceried window (bricked-up); moulded mask-stops to pointed-arched hoodmould; blocked trefoil opening centred in apex; cruciform finial. 4-stage tower recessed to left with narrow opening centred at 2nd stage; flanking chamfered angles with surmounting gablets; clock face at 3rd stage; pointed-arched window at 4th stage beneath finialed gable; incomplete spire.

SW (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: square-plan tower to outer right as above. Projecting gabled porch in subsequent bay to left with steps to pointed-arched entrance at centre; 2-leaf boarded timber door; 2-pane opaque fanlight; moulded mask-stops to hoodmould; surmounting cruciform finial. Bipartite windows in remaining 3 bays recessed to left. Single storey vestry to outer left with steps to boarded timber door in bay to right; bipartite, trefoil-headed window in bay to left.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: blocked rose window centred in nave; trefoil opening aligned above. Projecting vestry adjoined to outer right.

NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: gabled bipartite window breaking eaves in bay to outer left. Regularly-spaced bipartite windows in remaining 4 bays to right.

Replacement glazing to nave; remaining openings predominantly blocked and missing glazing. Grey slate roof (fishscale banding in part); gabletted skewputts; cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: whitewashed sandstone vestibule with 2 pointed-arched, boarded timber (store?) doors to side; decorative iron hinges. Pointed-arched nave entrance comprising 2-leaf boarded timber doors; decorative iron hinges; engaged columns to left and right; architraved hoodmould. NAVE: boarded timber floor; boarded timber dado; false ceiling (original brackets and springers in place). Regularly spaced chamfered timber columns to rear supporting full width timber panelled balcony at 1st floor; part infilled at ground with bar opening at centre. Stage to N. VESTRY: boarded timber door; small fireplace.

BOUNDARY WALL AND PIERS: coped cream sandstone wall enclosing site to Main Street; pyramidal-capped, square-plan piers to outer left and right.