Default Image We do not have a
Photograph at present.
Image by courtesy of
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Winster Methodist Church,
East Bank (north side), DE4 2DT,
Winster, 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 1823, but we understand it was closed in 2013.

This chapel was built in 1823, and said to be the fifth oldest Primitive Methodist chapel in the country. The pews inside are arranged in tiers. Access is by footpath only, from East Bank.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/2/1/4) for the "Chapel" in "Winster, Parish of Youlgreave" with a Primitive Methodist Connexion congregation describes a separate building, enlarged in 1850, used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free seating for 400, 80 "other" sittings, and standing room for 300; and the estimated congregation on March 30th was "170 or 180" in the afternoon, 200 or 250 in the evening, with a Sunday School class of 30 meeting in the morning. The average, for the last 12 months, was given as 12,000, which presumably indicated the total. The return was completed by Adolphus Frederick Beckerlegge, "Licensed Conference Minister", of "Winster, Matlock Bath, Derbyr.", who also completed the return for Monyash, where he provided a similar "all year" figure in the space on the form reserved for the yearly average. But he obviously felt "closer" to Winster, as he was more forthcoming in his remarks that "the Primitive Methodist Connexion preaches the doctrines of the Church of England, as asserted in the Deed Poll of the Connexion, enrolled in the Court of Chancery. See the printed Copy sold by Holliday, Sutton Street, Commercial road, George's East, London".

The following notice in The London Gazette of 9th April 1869 (p.2170) recorded its registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named the Primitive Methodist Chapel, situate at Winster, in the parish of Winster, in the county of Derby, in the district of Bakewell, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 5th day of April, 1869, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of 6th and 7th Wm. IV., cap. 85. Dated 7th April 1869.

Though no formal notice of closure has been found, information provided with Michael Greatorex's Flickr Photostream indicates the last service was held on Sunday, 6th January 2013.

It is the only one of the 3 former Methodist chapels in Winster to be a Listed Building. For details, see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

Denomination

Now or formerly Primitive Methodist.

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 SK2403360388. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Winster Methodist Church, Winster shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Winster 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 Winster, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Overview of Michael Greatorex's Flickr Photostream (null) (verified 2018-10-13)
• Learn more about Buildings of special or historical interest on the British Listed Buildings (null) (verified 2018-09-19)
• 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.