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Copyright of Mike Berrell
See more of Mike's photos on
The Churches of Britain and Ireland website.

Zion Free Methodist Chapel,
Hayfield Road, SK22 1BX,
Birch Vale, Hayfield, 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 1873, but we understand it was closed by 1981.

Although it isn't apparent from our photograph, there are three storeys to this building, as it is built into the side of the hill. The ground drops down to the right, where there is now a pleasant landscaped garden, and entrance to what was originally the basement level.

A recent (2012) Google StreetView drive-past shows that a plaque on the right of the entrance reveals the name "Zion Lodge", but the plaque from the original chapel has been retained, and can be seen propped up against the wall beneath it. It reads "Zion Methodist / Free Church / "A.D. 187?", the last figure obscured by a window box, but the original source for the photograph - Steve Bulman's Churches of Britain and Ireland website - says 1873.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 19th November 1920 (p.11266) records its registration for marriages:

A Separate Building, duly certified for religious worship, named ZION UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, situated at Birch Vale, in the civil parish of Hayfield, in the county of Derby, in Hayfield registration district, was, on the sixteenth November, 1920, registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to 6th and 7th Wm. IV, c.85. Dated 17th November 1920.

A corresponding notice, cancelling the registration, was published in the Gazette of 18th February 1981 (p.2398)

The Derbyshire Record Office's Non-Conformist Register Guide includes it as "Zion (formerly United) Methodist Church, and indicates there is a marriage register for the period 1921-1974. Various online property registers indicate the building was converted in 1988 into secular use.

Denomination

Now or formerly United 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 SK0220586728. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Zion Free Methodist Chapel, Birch Vale, Hayfield shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Hayfield 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 Birch Vale, Hayfield, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• Steve Bulman's excellent website devoted to Churches of Britain and Ireland (null) (verified 2018-10-04)
• 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.