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Ebenezer Methodist Chapel,
Chapel Hill,
Cromford (Matlock Bath), 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 1809, but we understand it was closed in 1908.

According to Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide, Cromford's first Wesleyan Methodist Chapel opened in 1808, and was rebuilt in 1900. This entry refers to its first "home", shown on Old Maps prior to 1900 as situated on the north side of Chapel Hill, just past its junction with Water Lane. The following notice in The London Gazette of 15th April 1845 (p.1145) possibly relates to the building:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named Ebenezer, situated at Cromford, in the parish of Mattock [sic], in the county of Derby, in the district of Bakewell union, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 8th day of April 1845, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of the 6th and 7th William 4, chap. 85. Dated 11th April 1845.

It is also recorded in the return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/2/7/20) as "Wesleyan Methodist Chapel" ["Cromford", crossed out], at Matlock, in the Ecclesiastical District of Matlock Bath. It was said to be built in 1809, "not a Seperate Building, a Day School under it belonging to another Party N.W.", which was used for "Worship and Sunday School". There were free sittings for 310, and 224 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 100 in the morning, and 120 in the evening; with morning, afternoon and evening Sunday School classes, which were attended by 100, 90, and 20 pupils respectively. The return was completed by W.B. Dennis, Wesleyan Minister, who gave his address as "Cromford, Derbyshire".

W.B. (William B.) Dennis was also Minister for Matlock Bath's Derwent Terrace Methodist Chapel at that time, for which see elsewhere in this database.

The Chapel was closed for worship when its successor ('Via Gellia', otherwise Cromford Methodist Church) was built in 1901, and by 1908 it is known to have been converted into a residence, when an article in The Derby Daily Telegraph of 26th September recorded it as the home of the Rev. and Mrs. H.G. Tunnicliff.

One of the Virtual Walks Around Cromford - in the History section of Cromford Village in Derbyshire website - reports that "a little way past Swiss Cottage on the right [in Chapel Hill] is a derelict building, which was used as a Methodist Training School".

This must have been close to the Chapel, which can be seen as the "large four storey building at the bottom of Chapel Hill", in the illustration of Scarthin Nick : Staffordshire Row, 1905 on Ann Andrews' webpages of Matlock and Matlock Bath Images (listed as Scarthin Nick: Staffordshire Row, 1905). Its successor, Cromford Methodist Church, in Water Lane, is described elsewhere in this database.

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 SK5708157081. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Ebenezer Methodist Chapel, Cromford (Matlock Bath) shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Cromford 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 Cromford (Matlock Bath), and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• “Derwent Valley Mills World Heritate Site” - Cromford Village in Derbyshire (null) (verified 2018-10-05)
• “The Andrews Pages”, featuring Ann Andrews' collection of Matlock and Matlock Bath Images (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.