Derbyshire Places of Worship

We have 1 Image Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Fairfield (69k) Above Photograph(s)
Copyright of Mike Berrell
See more of Mike's photos on
The Churches of Britain and Ireland website.
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Fairfield
Wesleyan Methodist Chapel,
Waterswallows Road,
Fairfield, 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 1844, but we understand it was closed in 1887.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/450/1/3/5) describes the "Wesleyan Methodist Chapel" in Fairfield as a separate building, erected in 1844, and used exclusively as a place of worship. It had 120 sittings, all free; and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 62 attending an evening service - there were no other services, and no Sunday School. The return was completed by George Bennett, who described himself as "Trustee", and gave his address as "Fairfield, Nr. Buxton".

An account of a "History of Methodism in Fairfield from 1844 to 1994" on Fairfield Methodist Church website explains that this building was erected with the assistance of a bequest of £50 from Mr. Samuel Birch. And in 1844, when it opened, "Mr. Samuel Barker, of Brook House Farm, who had had helped in various ways and especially with his team of horses, was allotted a pew to the left of the pulpit. On the other side sat the singers and violinists".

It was replaced by a second Chapel on the same site in 1868, but this in turn became too small, but there was no room to extend it, so a new Chapel was begun on a new site, on Fairfield road.

Bulmer's Directory of 1895 described this as a neat edifice of dressed stone... erected in 1886", adding that "the old chapel was purchased by the Local Board for £344, for offices, &c."

Indeed, Old Maps of 1898 show the old chapel labelled as the Town Hall. Over the years it has been available for different uses, as for example, on Maps of 1966, it is labelled as a Scout Hut; and in 2010, an inscription in the "tympanum" above the entrance indicated it had become the Church Hall.

Its replacement of 1886/7 is described elsewhere in this database, under the heading of "Fairfield Methodist Church".

Denomination

Now or formerly Wesleyan 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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SK0687174087. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

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 Fairfield, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

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 17 Dec 2018 at 10:17.

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This Report was created 29 Nov 2024 - 23:48:29 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/DBY713.php
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