Building record MDR12385 - Wesleyan Reform Methodist Chapel, The Causeway, Eyam

Wesleyan Reform Methodist Chapel, The Causeway, Eyam, built c1780. There is a Wesleyan Reform Methodist Chapel situated here on the 1st edition OS map. (1) 'The members of the Wesleyan Reform Union have a chapel at Eyam. It is a neat stone structure, capable of seating 250.' (2) Previously Grade II Listed: 'Wesleyan Reform Chapel of c.1781 with C19 extension. MATERIALS and PLAN: The Chapel is simple in form, rectangular in plan and constructed from coursed squared sandstone with stone coped gables and a slate roof. The quoins, window and door openings and keystones are of dressed sandstone. EXTERIOR: The main entrance is central to the south-western, gable end of the building. Both the north-west and south-east elevations display symmetry, with two ground-floor and two first-floor, multi-paned, round-headed windows set within rounded and eared lintels. Iron staining at four points around each of the road-side, ground-floor windows, suggests they were formerly shuttered. Adjoining to the main entrance is a late C19, single storey extension, which houses the boiler. A stone chimneystack at the southern corner of the building may be a later addition, possibly introduced in the C19 when the boiler was installed. INTERIOR: The main entrance leads into a small, wood-panelled, vestibule with a staircase rising to a gallery, and a door to the chapel. The ground floor of the chapel has been cleared of pews although two fixed benches remain at the south-western end, and a raised dais at the north-eastern end is the base to a relatively large pulpit. Wainscoting lines the lower courses of the walls throughout. A timber-panelled gallery with original fixed pews and integral clock stretches the full width of the southern end of the chapel; it is supported on metal columns, and retains its fixed pews and integral clock. The roof has been ceiled and only two tie beams, stretching the width of the chapel, are visible evidence of the roof structure. HISTORY: The Wesleyan Reform Chapel at Eyam is recorded locally as being built in 1787 although an inventory of Wesleyan and Methodist chapels in Derbyshire, compiled in 1817 by Dr Adam Clarke, gives the date of construction as 1781. Of the 65 chapels recorded in Derbyshire at this time, only eight predate the chapel at Eyam, and of these only the chapel at Crich still survives. The chapel at Eyam remained in use until 12th October 2008 when services ceased. SOURCES: Journal of John Wesley (1703-1791) at: www.godrules.net/Iibrary/wesley/274wesley_c4.htm, accessed 20 December 2010. REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Wesleyan Reform Chapel, The Causeway, Eyam is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural Interest: in its simple, vernacular character with a basic but quality interior * Historical Interest: as an early example of Wesleyan architecture in Derbyshire * Completeness: with the exception of the pews on the ground floor the interior survives virtually intact * Rarity: as a rare example of early Wesleyan architecture in Derbyshire.' (3) Delisted 23/11/2011.