The Church in Toft
St Andrew's Church, Church Road, Toft, Cambridge, CB22 2RH.
The ecumenical partnership of the Church in Toft was formed in 2003. Sadly, the Methodist Chapel has recently closed its doors to the public, but the community continues to worship at St Andrew's in Toft.
SERVICES: 11am each Sunday. 8.30am Holy Communion (BCP) on the first, third, and fifth Sundays of the month.
ACCESSIBILITY: Ample off-street parking, step-free access, fully accessible toilet, hearing induction loop, large print publications.
CONTACT: email
OTHER: The church regularly hosts markets and festive events, and is a popular resource for the village community. St Andrew's is an eco church.
A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN TOFT
The Methodist Chapel in Toft is now closed to the public.
A brief history is shared below. Many members of our community continue to attend St Andrew's Church in the village, and a number of our local preachers continue to lead worship there under an Ecumenical Welcome.
Toft is a small village approximately 6 miles from the City of Cambridge. The name "Toft" is derived from an old Viking word meaning "curtilage" or "homestead". Toft was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 (as Tofth), and was noted as having a population of about 193.
The history of Toft Methodist Chapel
The foundation stone for a Primitive Methodist Chapel in Toft was laid on 10th June 1862. The congregation would have been mainly farm workers and their wives, and one or two local farming families. The minister would have visited once a month, so that a Service of Holy Communion could take place. Other services were mainly taken by local preachers. To accommodate growing congregations the Chapel was expanded substantially in both 1940 and 1980.
In later times considerable additional resources were deployed to ensure the building was light, accessible, warm, and welcoming. There were accessible toilets, and ample free parking alongside the chapel. There were fixed microphones on the lectern and pulpit, plus radio mics, all connected to the loop system. Hymns were normally selected from Singing the Faith, New Hymns and Worship Songs and Hymns & Psalms. There was an Organ and Digital Piano. Organists were members of the congregation; and members of the congregation also read in rotation from the New English and Good News Bibles. The Methodist Worship Book provided the formal service formats. As part of their outreach mission, the Stewards encouraged use of the Chapel by local organisations, and the congregation was active and effective in raising funds for charities at home and abroad, periodic fund raising events were well supported by the village.
In 2003 St Andrew's entered an Local Ecumenical Partnership with the Methodist Church to create 'The Church in Toft'. The community flourished in the village, regularly boasting attendance of fifty plus members at services and social gatherings. In later years though, sadly, Toft Methodist Chapel could not be kept open, and it closed in 2025.
We will be a temple of God wherever we go: A final service of worship was held at Toft Methodist Chapel on 27th July 2025 in order to celebrate its having offered a non-conformist presence in the village of Toft for over 160 years.
