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

Holy Grove (Backmoor) Chapel (Demolished),
Hemsworth Road,
Norton, 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 1854, but we understand it was closed in 1939.

This Chapel appears to have had several changes of allegiance. The description, which accompanies two separate images on the Picture Sheffield website indicates it was built on land purchased in 1852 by T.B. [Thomas Beard, in White's Directory of 1852] HOLY of Norton House; and was opened as a Wesleyan Reform Chapel in 1854. Conversely, Harrod's Directory of 1870 records it as one of three Methodist Free Churches in Norton parish, the others being at Greenhill and Bradway. Kelly's Directory of 1891 and 1895 do however record it as Wesleyan. Kelly's Directory of 1912 does however acknowledge it ("Primitive Methodist, Backmoor"), belonging to Sheffield 8th circuit, with Rev. George Edward WILES its superintendent.

Its location, as shown on Old Maps, was on the north side of Hemsworth road, directly opposite its junction with Matthews Lane. It is described as Primitive Methodist until the 1935 series, by which time it had acquired the status of a Methodist Church. This coincides with the "Picture Sheffield" description, as it mentions that in 1876, many of its attendees transferred to the newly built Mount View Chapel, in Derbyshire Lane, and Mrs HOLY, by then a widow, sold the land back to the lord of the Manor of Norton, Charles Cammell. It was leased by the Primitive Methodists the following year, and purchased by them in 1887. The New Inn, referred to in the description as visible along the road beyond the Chapel, is shown on Maps of 1951 on the north-east corner of the junction of Hemsworth Road and Ashbury Lane.

The New Inn is still in existence in the present day; however the Chapel was closed, according to "Picture Sheffield" description in 1939, and was evidently demolished, as later Maps show a Surgery had been built where it once stood. However the Surgery too appears to have been demolished, as the site is now occupied by modern housing.

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan Reform/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 SK3624082646. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Holy Grove (Backmoor) Chapel (Demolished), Norton shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Norton 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 Norton, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Picture Sheffield (null) (verified 2018-10-01)

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.