Memorial Inscriptions: Belper Central Methodist Chapel
Central Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Belper is a listed building, important amongst other things for being the site of a visit by Charles Wesley, the famous 18th century evangelist and preacher.
Belper Central Methodist Church is the oldest of Belper's current places of worship, rerplacing an earlier 1782 chapel. The current building opened on June 28 1807 and is the largest surviving pre-Victorian chapel in the county. It is square in plan, as favoured by the early Wesleyans, retaining its original seating, and there is a a fine plaster ceiling.
The construction is of stone with square sash windows; the style is plain save for the pedimented front. The building is set back from the A6 in its own large graveyard, now a pleasant garden. When first built the chapel was described as "the wonder of the country for many miles around" on account of its great size (accommodating 1,400 people - so it was said!). It is now a listed building and there are plans for its restoration.
As the records for this church are larger than a web page table would permit, I have included them as a downloadable PDF file.
Please download from HERE
WEB LINKS:
These Memorial Inscriptions appear by kind permission of the Derbyshire Family History Society. Their website is located HERE. Books, fiches and other materials on Belper, as well as other Derbyshire districts, may be obtained from the Society.
