Sandiacre, Station Road Wesley (later Central) United Methodist Free Church, Derbyshire

Sandiacre, Station Road Wesley (later Central) United Methodist Free Church, Derbyshire

Sandiacre, Station Road Wesley United Methodist Free Church was built in 1887. In 1940 the chapel estate consisted of the chapel which seated 360 in pews, one school hall and five other rooms. It closed in 1965  and the building is now occupied by Springfield Special Occasions and Events (05).

At first glance this appears to be a typical brick and stone late nineteenth century chapel, but a closer look reveals some unusual features. The most conspicuous are the two flying buttresses supporting the front of the building (01). The window situated above and behind them contains perpendicular tracery which supports two heraldic shields one quartered with the letters U M Fand C and the other with 1 8 8 and 6 (04). High in the rear gable this tracery is echoed in a multifoil window which, if the conventional interior layout was followed, would have been visible behind the rostrum (03).

It is a big jump from the room occupied by the Free Methodist’s Reformer predecessors in 1851 to this impressive structure and it seems likely that another building was occupied immediately before the Station Road chapel opened. One possible building stood on the east side of Town Street towards the southern end. It was labelled “Chapel” on maps of 1879(06)  and 1899 but had lost this label by 1913.

Sources

 Free Methodist Manual: London, Andrew Crombie, 1899 Ilkeston Circuit p 269

John Rylands Library University of Manchester, DDPD1 Methodist Church Buildings: Statistical returns including seating accommodation as at July 1st 1940/929 Long Eaton Circuit

A local heritage interpretation board

Site visit 10.8.2024