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Primitive Methodist Chapel,
Riber Road / White Tor Road, DE4 5JB,
Starkholmes, Matlock, 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 1823, but we understand it was closed by 1905.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/2/7/25) records a "Primitive Methodist Chapel" in the parish of Matlock (Starkholmes), erected in 1823 as a separate building, used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free seating for 25, and 90 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 19 in the morning, 110 in the afternoon, and 175 in the evening. The return was completed by Thomas Carline, who designated himself as a Local Preacher, and a "Hatter [of] Starkholmes, Matlock Bath, Derbyshire".

This was an active congregation for what Old Maps of 1876-1880 show as an isolated building, of modest size, on the hillside overlooking Starkholmes, on the right side of what is now a continuation of White Tor Road northwards towards Wards End, past its junction with Riber Road. It was to be another 50 years before a more central building, named the Fox Memorial Chapel, was built on the main road through Starkholmes. Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide indicates there are records of baptisms for it which begin in 1884, so obviously the register was started at its first "home".

For more information about this, and other churches in the Matlock area, see Ann Andrews' excellent webpage of Matlock Churches and Chapels; and elsewhere in this database for more about the Fox Memorial Chapel, built in memory of Luke William Fox.

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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SK3023858812. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Primitive Methodist Chapel, Starkholmes, Matlock shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Matlock 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 Starkholmes, Matlock, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• “The Andrews Pages”, featuring Ann Andrews' study of Matlock Churches and Chapels (null) (verified 2021-09-12)

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.