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Copyright of Alf Beard

St Michael the Archangel's Church (RC),
Main Road, S32 1BS,
Hathersage, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We believe the Church does 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 1692, and we understand it is still open.

The first item of note in secular sources relating to this Chapel is the following notice in The London Gazette of 12th February 1850 (p.398) recording its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Roman Catholic Chapel, situated at Hathersage, in the parish of Hathersage, in the county of Derby, in the district of Bakewell Union, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 2nd day of February 1850, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 5th February 1850.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/3/5/6) for "Catholic Chapel, Hathersage" describes a separate building, erected "about 190 years ago" used exclusively as a place of worship. There were 150 sittings, all of which were "totally free"; and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 120 in the morning, "very few" in the afternoon, and none in the evening. The return was completed by Benjamin Hulme, Catholic Priest, of "Hathersage N. Bakewell". He remarked that it was "one of the oldest chapels in England - once unroofed by a gang of Ruffians - urged by their no-popery zeal - something like what at present animates the soul of Lord John Russel".

Note: Lord Russell (1792-1878) is known to have been Home Secretary, and Leader of the House of Commons in 1835-6, but had yet to become Prime Minister, for the first time, in 1855. The Chapel was attacked and partly demolished, to leave only the walls standing during the time Bueno Anderton was parish priest (c1691-1723). Benjamin Hulme was priest from 1847-1851.

There may be more information available by by selecting one or more of the accompanying images on the right.

Denomination

Now or formerly Roman Catholic.

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 is located at OS grid reference SK2296481601. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• St Michael the Archangel's Church (RC), Hathersage shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Hathersage 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 Hathersage, 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.