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

Sothall Methodist Church (Demolished),
Sothall Green,
Beighton, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church 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 1871, but we understand it was closed in 1971.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/509/1/1/2) describes "Beighton Wesleyan Chapel" as a separate building, erected in 1849, used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free seating for 100 and 43 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 30 in the afternoon, and 40 in the evening (no mention of Sunday Scholars). The return was completed by John Hardwick, its Steward, who gave his address as "Beighton, Near Sheffield, Derbyshire".

It is shown on Old Maps of 1877, on the south side of West Street, almost opposite its junction with Robin Lane. Kelly's Directory of 1912 records that a new chapel was built for the Wesleyans in 1905 at a cost of £2,000, but Old Maps of 1898 show the chapel building had already moved to its ultimate location, on the east side of Robin Lane, just a short distance north of the aforementioned junction. By 1923, Maps of that year show a Sunday School had been built next to it, to the south.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 27th July 1906 (p.5152) recorded its registration for marriages:

A Separate Building, duly certified for religious worship, named WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH, situated at Beighton, in the civil parish of Beighton, in the county of Derby, in Chesterfield registration district, was, on the 23rd July, 1906, registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to 6th and 7th Wm. IV, c.85, being substituted for the building named Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, situate at Sothall Green, now disused. Dated 25th July 1906.

Maps of 1956 label it as "Sothall Meth Ch". A comparable notice published in the Gazette of 25th May 1971 (p.5477) recorded the cancellation of its registration, under the name of "SOTHALL METHODIST CHURCH, Beighton, in the registration district of Sheffield" - first registered 23rd July 1906.

Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide includes records of marriages for "Sothall Methodist Chapel, Sothall Green" for the period 1924-1970, and a note that it was built 1870-71 and closed in 1971.

As it happens, this was the same year another of Beighton's Methodist Chapels was closed, known as "West Street", on the south side of West Street. No doubt their combined congregations would have joined that of the former Primitive Methodist Chapel in Robin Lane, which remains open to the present day (2015).

Seemingly, Sothall Methodist Sunday School building also remained open after the Chapel closed, as it is still listed in Places recorded by the Registrar General under the provisions of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (2010) - "Methodist Sunday School, Sothal[l] Green".

In the meantime, however, both of the former chapels have been demolished, and their sites are now occupied by modern housing. The Picture Sheffield website has an old photograph showing "Sothall Green Wesleyan Chapel and Sunday School", with a note indicating the woodwork of the church was done by Tom & William White of Eckington, and that it was demolished in 1974; but not, so far as I am aware, of West Street Chapel.

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 Church was located at OS grid reference SK4386683159. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Sothall Methodist Church (Demolished), Beighton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Beighton 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 Beighton, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Picture Sheffield (null) (verified 2018-10-01)
• Places recorded by the Registrar General under the provisions of the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 (2010) is available as a "Freedom of Information" document on the website What Do They Know. (verified 2018-10-14)
• 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.