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Primitive Methodist Chapel,
Water Street / Water Lane, DE45 1EU,
Bakewell, 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 1879, but we understand it was closed in 1944.

Bakewell - the Ancient Capital of the Peak (Halsgrove, 2005, p.63) records that the Primitive Methodists began regular meetings in Bakewell in 1879, in rented premises in Oddfellows Hall (on the south-east corner of the junction of Bagshaw Hill with Church Lane), organised by a newcomer to Bakewell, Joshua Barrett. And subsequently, in 1891, they built their own chapel in Water Street, which Kelly's Directory of 1895 records as having 150 sittings.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 24th January 1899 (p.468) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building named Primitive Methodist Chapel, situated at Water-street, Bakewell, in the civil parish of Bakewell, in the county of Derby, in the registration district of Bakewell, being a building certified according to law as a place of meeting for religious worship, was on the 20th day of January, 1899, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. 4, c.85. Dated 21st January 1899.

According to the above-mentioned Halsgrove publication, it was closed in 1944, following on directly from the merger of the various Methodists sects to create the Methodist Church of Great Britain in 1932. However a corresponding notice of the cancellation of the registration for marriages of "METHODIST CHAPEL, Water Street, Bakewell" did not appear until nearly 20 years later, on 19th September 1961 (p.6778)

The building was used as a dairy for a time, then more recently, it became the home of Bakewell Stationers. There are photographs on My Primitive Methodist Ancestors website.

After the Primitive Methodists left their first home, Oddfellows Hall, it was adopted by the Christian Assembly - a group who "sought to recreate what they considered was a form of worship more in keeping with the New Testament". Their Church, renamed as "Gospel Hall", still exists in the present day.

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 SK2186568510. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

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

• “A resource for the history of the 19th century working class movement known as the Primitive Methodists” ~ My Primitive Methodist Ancestors (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.