Default Image Place of Worship has been
Demolished.
Image by courtesy of
openclipart.org

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (Demolished),
Compton Street,
Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Chapel 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 1822, but we understand it was closed by 1881.

The position indicated for this chapel is as marked on Old Maps of 1880-1881. Information about Methodism in Ashbourne on the Ashbourne Methodist Circuit website indicates it was built about 1820, and closed when a new building, today's Methodist Church, was opened in 1880-1 in Church Street. Their photograph of the building shows a three-bay front with 2 tiers of round-headed windows, and a central doorway with a narrow porch, and they describe the setting as "in Birch's Woodyard". Old Maps do not indicate the Woodyard, but do show it as set back from the road, approached by a wide path. The building behind it, which can be seen on the photo, is labelled as "Infant School".

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/447/3/1/2) for "Ashbourne Wesleyan Chapel", in the "Township of Sturston, Parish of Ashbourne, Compton Street" describes a separate building, erected in 1822, and used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free seating for 220, and 206 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 85 in the morning, with 40 Sunday Scholars, and 110 in the evening, and 10 Sunday Scholars. There was no afternoon service, or class. The return was completed by Richard Sergeant, a Wesleyan Minister, of Ashbourne.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 19th December 1871 (p.5664) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, situate at Compton-street, Ashbourne, in the parish of Sturston, in the county of Derby, in the distict of Ashbourne, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 8th day of December, 1871, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 9th December 1871.

The notification of registration of its replacement was published in the Gazette of 27th May 1881 (p.2762), when it was being substituted for the building known as the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, situate at Compton-street Ashbourne.

Note: the present-day Ashbourne appears to have evolved from separate townships. "Sturston" was described in Kelly's Directory of 1932 as "a township in the hundred of Appletree, lying to the east of Ashbourne". The township also contained "The Grove", "standing in picturesque grounds", situated near Ashbourne Green, and about 1½ miles from Ashbourne station; and Sturston Hall, "an ancient structure in the Tudor style... now a farm-house".

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 was located at OS grid reference SK1810646538. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (Demolished), Ashbourne shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Ashbourne 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 Ashbourne, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The website of Ashbourne Methodist Circuit (null) (verified 2018-10-02)
• 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.