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Bethlehem ("Bethel") Chapel,
Hugh Lane,
Bradwell, Derbyshire.

Cemeteries

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 in 1845, but we understand it was closed in 1972.

Bradwell's second Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in 1845 at a cost of £700 and enlarged in 1878 for a similar amount, with other improvements, including a new organ, carried out since. It contains several memorial tablets to the Eyres, Hallams, Halls and Mortons, and outside has an extensive graveyard.

The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/449/3/16/15) is for "Bethel" Chapel, in "Hope, Bradwell", a separate building erected in 1846 for a congregation of Primitive Methodists, used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free sittings for 450, and 120 "other" sittings, and the estimated congregation on March 30th was 250 in the afternoon, and 400 in the evening. The return was completed by John Jackson, its Minister, who gave his address as "Bradwell near Castleton, Derbyshire". He remarked that "the 226 Scholars are taught by 34 gratuitous Teachers".

Primitive Methodism in Bradwell was an offshoot of the Sheffield mission, and was begun by Jeremiah Gilbert, who was imprisoned in Bolsover Round House for preaching there in the year 1819.

This Chapel replaced Bradwell's first Primitive Methodist Chapel, in Farther (Far) Hill. It was opened by Hugh Bourne, with Gilbert as its first minister, and dates from 1822. There is a description elsewhere in this database.

The following notice in The London Gazette of 1st February 1848 (p.326) recorded "Bethel"'s registration for marriages:

NOTICE is hereby given, that a separate building, named Bethlehem, situated at Bradwell, in the parish of Hope, in the county of Derby, in the district of Bakewell union, being a building certified according to law as a place of religious worship, was, on the 26th day of January 1848, duly registered for solemnizing marriages therein, pursuant to the Act of the 6th and 7th William 4, chap. 85. Dated 27th January 1848.

A corresponding notice of cancellation, of the registration of "BETHELEM METHODIST CHURCH, Bradwell", was published in the Gazette of 17th July 1975 (p.9125); and a 'The Bethlehem Chapel, Bradwell' the building appeared in the "For Sale" section of The Peak Advertiser, on 9th May 2005, and is assumed to be now in private ownership.

[Other Sources: a former Bradwell in the Peak website, and Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Derbyshire (1986)]

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 Chapel was located at OS grid reference SK1728081205. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• Bethlehem ("Bethel") Chapel, Bradwell shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Bradwell 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 Bradwell, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• The Bradwell Village Website is now the best place to find information for Bradwell in the Peak (null) (verified 2018-10-03)
• 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.