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Photograph at present.
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Chapel in a Barn,
Carsington Water,
Carsington, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church did NOT have a graveyard.

Note: any church within an urban environment may have had its graveyard closed after the Burial Act of 1853. Any new church built after that is unlikely to have had a graveyard at all.

Church History

This Place of Worship was founded in the 17th century, though it is now closed, but we don't yet know when.

Here is a former non-conformist chapel which once occupied the upper storey of a barn, in the middle of a field. It now stands near to the shore of Carsington Water reservoir, adjacent to the car park for the visitors' centre at Knockerdown. Its building, apparently, was mistakenly pulled down, but it has been rebuilt by the Severn Trent Water Authority, and is now used as the headquarters of the volunteer rangers who look after the amenities of the reservoir. The large double door to the lower floor has been maintained, as have the flight of steps providing access to the upper floor.

The non-conformist minister John Oldfield was ejected from the benefice of Carsington in 1662, so perhaps its congregation was formed from his followers. It is not clear what denominational adherence they may have followed, and indeed given the chapel's obscurity, we may never know; but I'd say the odds are in favour of Presbyterian. Indeed, it may be this very obscurity (or uncertainty) which has contributed to its survival, albeit in restoration. It seems quite remarkable that the building, and its provenance, still exists, as whilst meeting places established in upper storeys of a barn must have been commonplace in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, few of them (so far as I am aware), have survived in their original form to tell the tale.

Carsington Water was opened in 1992, and was formed by damming the Scow Brook. An underground pipeline connects it with the River Derwent six miles away, south of Whatstandwell, and water is pumped up from the Derwent in dry spells to augment its supply.

There is a photograph of the chapel on p.42 of "More Curiosities of Derbyshire" (Frank Rodgers, 2000).

Denomination

Now or formerly Presbyterian?.

If more than one congregation has worshipped here, or its congregation has united with others, in most cases this will record its original dedication.

Maps

This Church was located at OS grid reference SK2409051698. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Chapel in a Barn, Carsington shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Carsington shown on a Google Map.
• Streetmap.co.uk (arrow on map shows the Place of Worship's location) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Bing (Ordnance Survey option) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Bing Maps ('Bird's Eye' View) (verified 2018-10-15)
• Ordnance Survey "getamap" (NB some of the 'Change Map' options may require a subscription) (verified 2018-10-15)
• OpenStreetMap (Maps © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA) (verified 2018-10-15)
• A Vision of Britain Through Time - useful for Boundary Changes (verified 2018-10-15)
• www.magic.gov.uk (Modern Maps with various overlays) (verified 2018-10-15)