ALIVE IN THE 21st CENTURY

The three Derby Circuits now contain a total of twenty-four churches active in the 21st Century - twelve churches in Derby South, seven in Derby (Derwent Mission) and five in Derby East. Each is shown below. Many had humble beginnings and most of them are an offspring from another church.

DERBY SOUTH CIRCUIT CHURCHES

Findern 1835

The oldest chapel still in use in the Derby Methodist circuits. The Wesleyan Methodists met in a brick house or hovel, C1825, that appeared on the Lord’s Day Plan of 1826 until the chapel was opened in 1835.

Chellaston 1873

The first Wesleyan chapel in Chapel Lane is dated 1816. The church shown above, in the High Street, opened in 1873 and is a fine example of an unaltered Victorian church.

Alvaston 1901

A Wesleyan Methodist group in Alvaston appeared on the Lord’s Day Plan of 1826 and the Methodist New Connexion had a chapel at the other end of Brighton Road.

Dean Street 1905

Started as a mission room 1884-1 then a house 1885-1888 in Harrison Street. The schools (used during the erection of Firs Estate Board School) were then acquired until 1905.

Corden Street 1911

A mission that started in the open air in 1876 moved to Siddals Road and then Traffic Street. A group from Traffic Street split off and moved to Pear Tree Road Public Hall until Corden Street was opened in 1890.

Littleover 1958

There was a Wesleyan chapel in 1825 and a Primitive church in 1880. Littleover Methodist opened in 1958 with members from the Primitive Methodist church on Burton Road and from the United Methodist church in Becket Street.

St Thomas 1963

The original chapel was built in 1907. When Dale Road closed in 1963, members and money came to St Thomas’s. Soon after a new church was built which opened in 1968.

Newmount 1965

A primitive chapel in Mount Street 1874-1939 was the cause of Newmount Methodist Church opened in 1939 and still in use next door to the new church built in 1965.

St Martins 1973

The first Methodist meetings were in Upper Moor Road by the Crown. Then Flint Street opened in 1930 and is now the church hall for St Martin’s. When the Osmaston Methodists closed about 1967, members and assets moved to Flint Street. Shortly after Davenport Road Methodists also moved to Flint Street. The bigger congregation made possible the new church.

Sinfin Moor 1974

There was a Wesleyan chapel in Sinfin Moor Lane opened 1870. The first ecumenical group to meet in Derby was at No 1&3 Ryan Close 1969-1974 until the new church was built.

Haven CC 1999

A congregation formed as Littleover Ecumenical Church started meeting at the Littleover Community School in 1989. There was a need for a church in the new suburb called Heatherton Village and in 1999 the modern ecumenical church, comprised of Anglicans, Methodists and Baptists opened on Holly Brook Way. The United reformed Church joined later.

Mickleover 2001

Station Road church, 1914-2000, became home for the Wesleyans and the Primitives when they united in 1932 to form the Mickleover Methodist Church. The new Church, opened in 2001 on the same site, is the newest Methodist Church in Derby.

DERBY (DERWENT MISSION) CIRCUIT CHURCHES

Queen’s Hall 1861

Originally London Road opened in 1861. After extensive alterations the church was renamed Queen’s Hall Methodist Mission in 1927. The modern façade that we see now was added in 1965. A fire in Holy Week 1991 destroyed the inside. The church was repaired and rededicated at Pentecost 1992.

Mansfield Street 1890

A small Primitive chapel that has changed little since opening in 1890 to serve the Chester Green community.

Allestree 1895

The original Wesleyan chapel or ‘meeting house’ opened in Lover’s Lane (now known as Church Walk) in 1821. This chapel opened in 1895 when Allestree was still a small village.

Mackworth 1956

It took more than 100 years after the first Wesleyan School on Radbourne Lane before a Methodist church arrived in Mackworth. The new estate started in 1951 and the Methodist church opened in 1956. It joined the circuit in 1961.

Darley Abbey 1959

The Darley Abbey Wesleyan society met in the schoolrooms and had to wait more than 100 years before they could have a place of their own. The house called “Westleigh” proved a vital meeting place until this Methodist church opened in 1959.

St John’s 1964

In March 1960 the old King Street Society had finally closed, only for plans to be made for a new church, in the Park Farm area of Allestree, to be built with its assets. So a church with a direct link with the visits of John Wesley to Derby was reborn and named St John’s in 1964.

Ashbourne Road 1998

First started as a mission outreach from King Street in 1871. Rapid growth led to a fine church opened in 1885. After shrinking to the old Sunday school rooms, an amalgamation with the United Reformed church produced another new Ecumenical church opened in 1998.

DERBY EAST CIRCUIT CHURCHES

Draycott 1897

Draycott has a long history of Wesleyan activity with the first chapel possibly visited by John Wesley in 1780. The second Wesleyan chapel (1830), on Victoria Road, joined with the Primitive church in 1966 to form the Draycott Methodist Church.

Borrowash 1900

Borrowash had a Wesleyan Meeting House in 1806, a Wesleyan chapel in 1826, a Wesleyan church in 1900, a Primitive chapel in 1851 and another in 1903. In 1949 there was a coming together to form Borrowash Methodist Church.

Mayfield Road 1928

Since the demise of Chesapeake Road, this is the only Methodist Church in the very large suburb of Chaddesden. A new church hall has been added to replace the wooden hut in the 75th anniversary year.

Spondon 1934

Wesleyans (1797) and Primitive Methodists (1860) were active in Spondon long before this church was built. It opened as a Primitive Methodist church. The first in the area to be built after the reunion of Methodists in 1932. Spondon Methodist is head of Derby East.

Oakwood 1993

A new Ecumenical church for a large growing suburb. The building is shared by two congregations, the Roman Catholics and the combined force of Anglican, Methodist and United Reformed churches.

FINALE

A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky:
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfil:
O may it all my powers engage
To do my Master’s will!

Charles Wesley

AMEN

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