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Thomas Bateman's Chapel,
Weaddow Lane, north of Square,
Middleton, Youlgreave, 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 1826, but we understand it was closed by 1971.

Built 1826-7 by Thomas Bateman, this is a substantial building, of 3 bays, with a later house for the minister, of 3 storeys, added to the rear. The foundation stone was laid by Thomas's grandson, also called Thomas, then aged 4. It is this latter Thomas who was the antiquarian - dubbed "The Barrow Knight" - and the inside of the chapel contains memorials to him and his wife Sarah (née Parker). Thomas (the grandson) died in 1861 ("white marble tablet surmounted by low relief of Bronze Age urn resting on a book 'Ten Years Diggings', and Crest above"), and Sarah his wife died in 1866 ("with lozenge of arms"). His tomb is in a field to the west of the chapel, inside a railed enclosure.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/1/17/30) for the "Independent Chapel" in "Middleton" (district of Bakewell) describes a separate building erected in 1826 used exclusively as a place of worship by an Independent congregation. It had free sittings for 40, and 95 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 40 in the morning, 42 in the afternoon, and 13 Sunday Scholars at both a morning and afternoon class. There were no services in the evening. The return was completed by George Boden, its Minister, who gave his address as "Middleton by Youlgreave, Derbyshire".

Thomas (the builder) Bateman had died in 1847, and some 150 years after its founding, the chapel he built was sold in 1978 for conversion to a private house.

The notice of its registration for marriages, as "Independent Chapel, situate at Middleton-by-Youlgreave", had appeared in The London Gazette of 16th February 1864 (p.727); with a corresponding cancellation published on 6th April 1971 (p.3390):

The Registrar General, being satisfied that CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL, Middleton by Youlgreave in the registration district of Bakewell in the county of Derbyshire is no longer used as a place of worship by the congregation on whose behalf it was on 10th February 1864 registered for marriages in accordance with the Marriage Act, 1836 has cancelled the registration. Dated 26th March 1971.

[Other Sources: Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Derbyshire (1986), and Thomas Bateman - Pioneer Archaeologist on Tom Bates 'About Derbyshire' website]

Denomination

Now or formerly Independent/Congregational.

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 SK1955063304. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Thomas Bateman's Chapel, Middleton, Youlgreave shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Youlgreave 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 Middleton, Youlgreave, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• “A writer who captures the essential spirit of Derbyshire in words” - Tom Bates 'About Derbyshire' (null) (verified 2018-10-02)
• 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.