St Nicholas' Nursery and Day Nursery, Lowestoft

The St Nicholas' Home can be separated into four main stages: St Nicholas' Home for Boys (1930-1932), St Nicholas' Home for Girls (1932-1940), St Nicholas' Nursery (1946-1970), and St Nicholas' Nursery and Day Nursery (1970-c1979).

In 1929 a new building was found to replace the first Lowestoft Home which had closed in 1915. It was initially intended to house up to 30 children aged 5-10. A memorial stone for the Home was laid by The Lord Bishop of Norwich on 6 July 1929.

Later that year it was decided the Home would accommodate boys aged 4-10 and be named St Nicholas'.

A piano was given to the Home by a Mrs Beamish and Dr Jennette Hargrave in 1930 and in the same year a six-valve wireless [radio] was also presented to the Home by entertainers Archie Pitt and Gracie Fields on behalf of the Revd Cronchey.

Lowestoft changed from a Boy's Home to a Girl's Home in 1931 and soon after the start of the Second World War in 1940 the 40 residents of school age were evacuated to St Nicholas', Torquay, Devon.

At the end of the war there was an urgent need for nurseries, causing the Lowestoft Home to reopen as a Nursery Unit.

In 1970 St Nicholas' Nursery set up its own Day Nursery alongside the residential nursery, one of the first such projects to be established by the Society. It later became Lowestoft Children's and Families Centre, Lowestoft.

In 1973 residents from St Mary's, Felixstowe moved to the Lowestoft Home.

The Lorry Drivers of W Bernard Ltd gave £220 to St Nicholas' in 1979 and the donation was used to fund the Home's annual holiday to Wales where residents and staff camped for two weeks.