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

St Mary's Chapel (Demolished),
Union 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 1845, but we understand it was closed by 1871.

St Mary's Chapel is described in a return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/447/3/3/7) as licensed in 1845 "for the accomodation of the Poor", and "purchased from the Baptists", at a cost of £300. It had free seating for 100, and 100 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 105 in the afternoon, the only service. The return was completed by John Rd. Errington, Vicar of Ashburne, who remarked "the Service is maintained at the Cost of the Vicar - being £20 pr. anm."

An Archaeological Assessment Report for Ashbourne, available on the Archaeology Data Service website explains that the need for this chapel arose because there was insufficient free seating in St Oswald's Church. As indeed appears to have been the case, as the return on the Religious Census for St Oswald's (HO 129/447/3/3/6) indicates it had only 300 free sittings, compared with its 1,000 "other" (rented) sittings.

The report also explains that the Chapel stood in the area between Union Street and the Market Place; that it was demolished in the early 20th century, and its site now lies beneath the southern end of Shakespeare Court. Elsewhere online, on the Our Ashbourne website, this is pinpointed as the rear of Tiger Yard, the yard belonging to the Tiger Inn (currently "Lamplight" restaurant). The site also records that the Chapel "was provided with gas lighting and an organ", and that it was closed when the Rev. Errington determined to provide more free seating in the parish Church. This was an unpopular move with the Church's seat-holders, which was to lead to what became known locally as the "great pew battle".

The pressure on the parish Church was (presumably) further reduced when the Free Church of St John, in Buxton Road, was opened in 1871.

Denomination

Now or formerly Church of England.

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 SK1797046730. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Mary's 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 officially accredited archive of heritage data - Archaeology Data Service (null) (verified 2021-09-12)
• Making a Historic Market Town's history “accessible for everyone, to see and learn from, and be part of…” Our Ashbourne (null) (verified 2018-10-28)

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.