Wesleyan Reform ("Bottom") Chapel, Eyam, Derbyshire, Church History

Derbyshire Places of Worship

We have 1 Image

Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Alf Beard

Wesleyan Reform ("Bottom") Chapel, Eyam

Wesleyan Reform ("Bottom") Chapel,
The Causeway,
Eyam, 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 1787, though it is now closed, but we don't yet know when.

Joseph Benningson (or Beneson), who was buried on 13th March 1793, is credited in the parish register as "the first that introduced Methodism to Eyam". Joseph is believed to have been the son of George and Anne, baptised in 1734/5, and married to Jane Bradshaw in 1755. Jane died in 1783 aged 47, and her MI, as wife of Joseph, records that he was a Miner.
The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/3/8/11) for Eyam's "Wesleyan Methodist Chaple" describes a separate building, erected "before 1800" with free seating for 130, and 70 "other" sittings, used exclusively as a place of worship. It was 11 yards by 8, and had no standing room; and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 55 in the afternoon and 11 in the evening. The return was completed by Thomas Ball, who described himself as a "Wesleyan Local Preacher", of "Near Bakewell Derbyshire". He added that "this Chaple has connected with it a Sunday School [with] 46 Scholars".
Old Maps of 1880-1881 indicate it had become a Wesleyan Reform Chapel. When a second Methodist Chapel opened in Eyam in 1906, it was recorded on Old Maps of 1922 as simply "Wesleyan Methodist", whilst this one remained "Wesleyan Reform", as the following notice in The London Gazette of 16th March 1928 (p.1959) indicates:
A Separate Building, duly certified for religious worship, named WESLEYAN REFORM CHAPEL, situated at Eyam, in the civil parish of Eyam, in the county of Derby, in Bakewell registration district, was, on the 12th March, 1928, registered for solemnizing marriages therein pursuant to 6 & 7 Wm. IV, c.85. Dated 13th March 1928.
Locally, whilst both Chapels were in existence, they became known as "Top" and "Bottom" Chapels, the Wesleyan Reform being "Bottom". It is not known how long "Bottom" Chapel remained open, as no corresponding notice of cancellation has been found, but nevertheless it is now closed, most certainly by the time "Top" Chapel closed in 2011.
There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan Reform.

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 SK2215876419. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

Wesleyan Reform ("Bottom") Chapel, Eyam shown on a Google Map.
Places of Worship in Eyam 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 Eyam, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

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.

Information last updated on 29 Dec 2014 at 15:56.

Search for other Places of Worship in Derbyshire, or in another County in this Database

Please choose a County by selecting one of the Tabs below.
Note: you MUST choose a County - searching all four at once is not an option!

Derbyshire

Gloucestershire

Herefordshire

Worcestershire

Photo	Place or OS GridRef	Dedication (optional)	Street (optional)	How Many	Denomination

Search Tips:

You can specify either a Place, or OS Grid Reference to search for. When you specify a Place, only entries for that place will be returned, with Places of Worship listed in alphabetical order. If you specify a Grid Reference, Places of Worship in the immediate vicinity will be listed, in order of distance from the Grid Reference supplied. The default is to list 10, but you can specify How Many you want to see, up to a maximum of 100.

You can further refine your search by supplying other search terms.

You can specify entries with ('Yes') or without ('No') photographs.

You can specify a church or chapel's Dedication, to restrict entries to those containing the term you supply as a dedication. So for instance, 'John' would return 'St John', 'St Mary and St John', 'St John the Divine' &c.

You can specify a Street address, and likewise 'George' will return George Place, St George's Street, George and Dragon, &c.

You can restrict the search to classes of Denomination. The exact denomination is always shown in the results, although the search is for broad types. Thus you can search for 'Methodist', but not 'Wesleyan Methodist' or 'Primitive Methodist'. 'Multi-denominational' includes Ecumenical Partnerships, and 'Miscellaneous' means anything not covered by other broad classes.

Please note the above provides a search of selected fields in the Derbyshire section of the Places of Worship Database on this site (churchdb.gukutils.org.uk) only. For other counties, or for a full search of the Database, you might like to try the site's Google Custom Search, which includes full webpage content.

Further Information

This site provides historical information about churches, other places of worship and cemeteries. It has no affiliation with the churches or congregations themselves, nor is it intended to provide a means to find places of worship in the present day.

Do not copy any part of this page or website other than for personal use or as given in our Terms and Conditions of Use.

You may wish to take a look at our About the Places of Worship Database page for an overview of the information provided, and any limitations which may be present.

This Report was created 26 Nov 2024 - 17:18:09 GMT from information held in the Derbyshire section of the Places of Worship Database. This was last updated on 13 Oct 2021 at 14:33.

URL of this page: https://churchdb.gukutils.org.uk/DBY305.php

Logo by courtesy of the Open Clip Art Library