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London Road Methodist Church,
London Road, SK17 9NX,
Buxton, 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 after 1851, but we understand it was closed in 1973.

London Road Methodist Church is situated close to what is known as the "Five Ways" junction - a meeting of London Road, Dale Road, High Street West Road, and Green Lane.

Kelly's Directory of 1895 describes it as "a building of Yorkshire ripping with ashlar dressings, erected in 1890, at a cost of £1,800", with sittings for 600; whilst Bulmer's Directory of the same year records it as "a handsome stone building, erected at a cost of £1,689. It is lighted by stone-mullioned Gothic windows. At the main entrance, which is on the east side, is a very fine cut stone arch with granite pillars. Behind the western gable are three vestries, or class-rooms. The circuit minister is the Rev. John Teece. A Sunday school adjoins the chapel, affording accomodation from about 150 scholars".

White's Directory of 1857 records an earlier meeting place for Primitive Methodists - "a small Chapel in the Back lane, behind the Queen's Inn". Presumably this was built after 1851, as it is not mentioned in the Religious Census of that year. This was evidently replaced in 1869, when according to an Archaeological Assessment Report for Buxton, on the Archaeology Data Service website (part of Derbyshire Extensive Urban Survey, p.23) the Primitive Methodists opened a chapel on London Road in 1869. It included a minister's residence, and Sunday School, but was replaced by the present building as it was "not sound". Some of the materials from the old chapel were however reused.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 4th March 1873 (p.1378) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Primitive Methodist Chapel, situated at Cote Heath, London-road, Buxton, in the parish of Hartington, in the county of Derby, in the district of Chapel-en-le-Frith, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 25th day of February, 1873, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 26th February 1873.

Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide includes records of baptisms 1886-1966, and marriages 1940-1971; mentioning also that it was built in 1868, rebuilt in 1890, merged with Wesley Chapel (now Buxton Methodist Church) in 1966, and closed in 1973.

It is believed that the building was taken over subsequently by the Pentecostal Church, and has since been known as "New Life Christian Centre", and "Buxton Community Church".

Denomination

Now or formerly Primitive Methodist.

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 SK0580172877. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• London Road Methodist Church, Buxton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Buxton 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)

Resources

I have found many websites of use whilst compiling the information for this database. Here are some which deserve mention as being of special interest for Buxton, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The officially accredited archive of heritage data - Archaeology Data Service (null) (verified 2021-09-12)
• Notices of Civil Registration of Places of Worship for marriages are published in the London edition of The Gazette. Hint: search for registrations from 1998 by choosing 'Church' notices, and the option 'Registration for solemnising marriage'. (verified 2018-12-11)

The above links were selected and reviewed at the time I prepared the information, but please be aware their content may vary, or disappear entirely. These factors are outside my control.