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Copyright of David Lindley

The Old Meeting House ("High Street Chapel"),
High Street,
Bolsover, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

We don't know whether this Chapel had 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 after 1700, but we understand it was closed in 1893.

Some sources say the congregation which met in this building may have been formed as early as 1662; however Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Derbyshire (1986) says there is no evidence for a regular congregation before the early 18th century. At that time, John THOMAS, the Presbyterian Minister from Elder Yard Chapel in Chesterfield held fortnightly services in Bolsover, and following his death in 1719, services were continued by Thomas IBBETSON (or EBBISHAM), pastor of the Independent section of Elder Yard. The meeting house, described as 'newly erected', was registered in 1722.

Ibbetson died on 7th August the following year, aged 37, and the chapel contains a memorial to him on the south wall. There is a memorial to another pastor, Rev. John ELLABY, on the north wall.

From 1813-1893 it is known to have become a Congregational Chapel, and can be seen on Old maps of 1875-1877 marked as such.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/448/3/3/4) for "High St Chapel" describes a separate building, erected "before 1800" for an "Independent or Congregationalist" congregation. It was used exclusively as a place of worship, and it had free seating for 100, and 150 "other" sittings. The estimated congregation on March 30th was 46 in the afternoon and 80 in the evening, with 58 Sunday Scholars attending a morning and afternoon class. The return was completed by John Wardley, its Deacon, of "Scarcliffe Nr. Mansfield, Nottinghamshire".

In 1893 the congregation moved to an adjacent site in Castle Street (backing on to the High Street), where a new Chapel had been built. A connecting link was maintained between the old and new buildings, with the old Chapel becoming a Church Hall and Sunday-school. It was repaired or refitted in 1912, but in 1981, when the Church of 1893 was closed, the connecting structures which had linked the two were removed, and the interior stripped. After that it was refitted as offices, then latterly, as it is today, a private house.

See the separate entry for Castle Street Congregational Chapel", in Castle Street, elsewhere in this database for information about surviving church records. [Sources: Rosemary Lockie/David Lindley]

Denomination

Now or formerly Presbyterian/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 SK4724670480. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• The Old Meeting House ("High Street Chapel"), Bolsover shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bolsover 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)