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United Reformed Church ('Sion Chapel'),
Derby Road (formerly New Road), DE6 1BE,
Ashbourne, 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 1801, but we understand it was closed in 1998.

This is a red-brick building, which came into use in May 1801 originally by a Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, which had been meeting in the former Presbyterian Chapel in St John Street. It was endowed by Mr John Cooper, a member of the committee of the Spa Fields Chapel in London, and a native of Ashbourne. Cooper was also responsible for the erection of the row of single-storey almshouses attached to the church, in 1800.

So says the booklet Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses, Derbyshire (1986). The return to the Religious Census of 1851 (HO 129/447/3/1/3) for "Sion Chapel" in the "Township of Sturston, Parish of Ashborne" describes a separate building, erected in 1800 for a Countess of Huntingdon congregation, used exclusively as a place of worship. It had free seating for 100, and 240 "other" sittings, and had an estimated congregation on March 30th of 143 in the morning, 88 in the afternoon, and 133 in the evening, with 90 Sunday Scholars at classes in the morning and afternoon. The return was completed by Henry Hollis, its Minister, of "Chapel House, Ashbourn, Derbyshire". He remarked that "the Chapel is generally considered as belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connection, but the form of Church government is Independent".

Though the building is now closed for worship, it is understood that at some later date the church became Congregational, and subsequently in 1972, a member of the United Reformed Church. The Derbyshire Record Office hold records of baptisms for a period beginning in 1787, when the congregation were meeting in St John's Street. There was also a burial ground attached, for which records exist for a period beginning in 1808. The address the DRO give for the Chapel is "Derby Road (formerly New Road), Compton", and its closing date is given as 1998. The DRO also hold records of marriages for a period beginning 1874, and ending 1997. An appropriate notice of the cancellation of the registration of "United Reformed Church, Derby Road, Ashbourne" for marriages was published in The London Gazette of 9th October 1998 (p.10974), but I was unable to find a corresponding notice of its original registration.

Both almshouses, and church (now in private ownership, and known as "The Chantry") are Grade II Listed Buildings - see the British Listed Buildings website for details.

Denomination

Now or formerly 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 SK1813446302. You can see this on various mapping systems. Note all links open in a new window:

• United Reformed Church ('Sion Chapel'), Ashbourne shown on a Google Map.
• Places of Worship in Ashbourne 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 Ashbourne, and perhaps to Local History and Places of Worship as a whole.

• 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.