We have 1 Image Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Alf Beard

Buxton Methodist Church ('Wesley Chapel'),
Chapel Street, SK17 6HX,
Buxton, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel does 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 about 1797, and we understand it is still open.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/450/1/2/4) for "Wesley Chapel" in the parish of Buxton, district of Chapel en le Frith ("Macclesfield" crossed out) describes a separate building, erected in 1849 used exclusively as a place of worship by a Wesleyan Methodist congregation. It had free seating for 118, and 310 "other" sittings; and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 88 in the morning, and 173 in the evening, with 78 Sunday Scholars attending a morning class. The average attendance to services in the previous 12 months was almost twice this, being 160 in the morning, and 240 in the afternoon, although Sunday School attendance was almost the same. The return was completed by John Clayton, Chapel Steward, who gave his address as "Terrace Road, Buxton".

This was a rebuild of an earlier Chapel, dating from around 1797, which stood on Smithy Hill. It is described in Bulmer's Directory of 1895 as "a substantial building of cut freestone, strongly buttressed and surrounded by a parapet which terminates at the front gable in a bell turret ... the chapel is arranged in the nave and aisle fashion, and has a chancel separated by a pointed arch, resting on circular decorated pillars, with sculptured capitals in floral design".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 10th April 1868 (p.2162) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Wesleyan Chapel, situated at Higher Buxton, in Buxton, in the parish of Bakewell, 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 3rd day of April, 1868, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 4th April 1868.

Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide records it as "Wesley Methodist Chapel, Higher Buxton", and includes records of baptisms, 1901-1966 (no marriages); mentioning also that it was built in 1849, and merged with London Road Methodist Church (formerly Primitive Methodist) in 1966.

There are old photographs, and an engraving of the original chapel on the Picture The Past website.

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan 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 Chapel is located at OS grid reference SK0571973157. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Buxton Methodist Church ('Wesley Chapel'), 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.

• Historical Photos of Derby, Derbyshire and Nottingham ~ Picture The Past (null) (verified 2018-10-12)
• 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.