Hayes Conference Centre
Encyclopedia
Swanwick, Derbyshire
Swanwick is a village in Derbyshire, England, also a Parish within the Amber Valley district, with a population of 5,316 at the 2001 census.It has a number of shops, pubs and other businesses, a Church of , as well as Methodist and Baptist churches...
, UK which are used for conferences and other functions. The building which now houses the centre's reception was built in the 1850s as a private residence and named Swanwick Hayes. Since the early 1910 however it has taken up its current usage, apart from the Second World War years when it was a POW camp for German and Italian prisoners.
The centre, which has had many additions to it since it opened, provides sleeping accommodation for up to 400 people in 274 rooms (11 of which are for disabled persons). Most rooms are en-suite though an ever decreasing number have shared washing and toilet facilities. There are two main dining room
Dining room
A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
s and full time catering staff work there alongside cleaners and other workers. There are 30 rooms designed to hold meetings in. The largest two hold 420 and 400 with two other large ones holding 150 and 140. Other facilities include a bar, small gift shop
Gift shop
A gift shop is a store primarily selling souvenirs relating to a particular topic or theme. The items sold often include coffee mugs, stuffed animals, t-shirts, postcards, handmade collections and other souvenirs....
, five a side football pitches, a games room and a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
with room for 350. There are internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
access points in many of the rooms.
Most of the clients using this 90 acres (364,217.4 m²) estate are Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
groups, as the centre has been run by the Christian Conference Trust since 1996. As well as providing locations the trust can help organise the conferences at Hayes, and its sister site High Leigh in Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon
Hoddesdon is a town in the English county of Hertfordshire, situated in the Lea Valley. The town grew up as a coaching stop on the route between Cambridge and London. It is located southeast of Hertford, north of Waltham Cross and southwest of Bishop's Stortford. At its height during the 18th...
. The Midland Railway - Butterley
Midland Railway - Butterley
The Midland Railway – Butterley is a heritage railway, formerly known until 2004 as the Midland Railway Centre, at Butterley, near Ripley in Derbyshire.-Overview:...
and Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
are local tourist attractions. It is located just five miles (8 km) from the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
and three miles (5 km) from Alfreton railway station
Alfreton railway station
Alfreton railway station serves the town of Alfreton in Derbyshire, England. The station is on the Erewash Valley Line 29 km north of Nottingham....
.