Not many people expect to find soft play in a church. In Burton Bradstock, near Bridport, it now sits inside St Mary’s, a Grade I listed building more than five centuries old. As far as anyone involved knows, it’s the first soft play in a church of its age.
It was a project the whole village got behind, and one of the most interesting we’ve worked on. Here’s how it came together.
St Mary’s is Burton Bradstock’s parish church and part of the Bride Valley and Chesil group of churches, led by Reverend Andrew Rawding. Like many rural villages, Burton Bradstock has fought to hold on to its everyday places. It still has a school, a post office and two pubs. The church wanted to be somewhere young families felt welcome all week, not only on a Sunday.
Most of our soft play installations happen in leisure centres, family attractions and purpose-built venues, where the main questions are space, budget and safety. St Mary’s added a few more.
The first was permission. Reverend Rawding began by asking villagers whether they wanted it, then took the plan to the Diocese of Salisbury, the Church Buildings Council and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Their support depended on the equipment being discreet. Visitors should be able to walk in without the soft play dominating the space, so every colour had to be signed off as in keeping with the building. If a shade felt too bold, it was swapped for something more subdued.
The second was sharing the space. The church is also a village venue, including for the annual music festival, and some residents wondered how a play area would affect seating. The design had to respect that.
The third was money. The £20,000 budget came from parish fundraising, match-funded by a local brewery, so every decision had to count.
We treated the church as the client’s most important feature, not an obstacle. Our team worked with Reverend Rawding and the parish on a bespoke soft play design that suits the building rather than competing with it: a calm, heritage-friendly palette, a layout planned around how the church is really used, and equipment chosen for younger visitors like toddlers and primary school children.
We installed a small, two-level padded area. It featured basic interaction points for older children whilst also allowing for enough exploration and safety for toddlers and babies. We included a log ramp and slide, a padded area and a small sensory space.
Everything was built to the indoor play safety standard and installed in a few days with minimal disruption to the church and its schedule.
The soft play is free for children to use at set times, with parents and carers supervising. It has quickly become part of village life.
Reverend Rawding says the aim is to let children “be free to play” in church, rather than sit quietly in pews. Local people have welcomed it, including one lifelong parishioner who said she loved hearing happy children in the church where her family has marked so many milestones.
The neighbouring school has gained a rainy-day playtime space for younger pupils, and somewhere children who need a movement break can go. The interim head teacher said it was an amazing addition for the school.
BBC News covered the story in October 2026, and the project is being talked about as an example for village churches elsewhere.
Could this work for your church or community space?
The lesson from Burton Bradstock is that soft play can fit places no one expected, if the design is sensitive and the community is involved early. The same approach works well for:
If you’re weighing something similar, our guide to planning a soft play area is a good place to start. You can also see more of our work in our case studies, or talk to our team about your space.
Download our latest brochure, project case studies and compliance guide before you go.
