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

Dronfield Hill Top United Reformed Church (Demolished),
84 Hill Top Road, S18 1UL,
Dronfield, 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 1886, but we understand it was closed before 2014.

The community which established the former Congregational Church on Hill Top Road was founded 1886 as a "house group". The location of their building, which is believed to have built in 1914, can be seen on various Old Maps, sited on the south-east corner of the junction of Hill Top Road with Longacre Road. In 1938 it is labelled as "Congl. Church", but in 1958-1959 as "Hill Top Mission Church (Congregational)".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 5th November 1974 (p.10675) recorded its registration for marriages:

A Building certified for worship named UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, Hill Top, Dronfield in the registration district of Chesterfield in the County of Derbyshire, was on 28th October 1974 registered for solemnizing marriages therein pursuant to section 41 of the Marriage Act 1949, as amended by section 1(1) of the Marriage Acts Amendment Act, 1958. Dated 30th October 1974.

A Google StreetView of 2011 showed a small red brick building, with 3 tall lancet windows in the front, above which was a cross. Attached to its left side was a modern extension, joined to the main building by a vestibule, and with rows of darker brickwork below the roof line with lettering indicating it was "Hill Top United Reformed Church". Since then, however, the premises have been demolished, as a similar drive-past of October 2014 shows the buildings are gone, and the site has been cleared.

No corresponding notice of closure has been found in the Gazette, but perhaps this is not surprising. Information available on the former of Churches Together in Dronfield and District indicated the community were (in 2014) meeting in the Guideacre Hut at Hill Top whilst waiting for a decision from their Synod on building a new Church and Community Hall.

Denomination

Now or formerly Congregational/United Reformed (URC).

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 SK3547977384. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Dronfield Hill Top United Reformed Church (Demolished), Dronfield shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Dronfield 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 Dronfield, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Information about Churches Together in Dronfield and District (null) (verified 2018-09-30)
• 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.