Building record MDR12630 - Matlock Methodist Church, Bank Road, Matlock Town

There is a Wesleyan Methodist Chapel situated here on the 2nd edition OS map. (1) The Wesleyan Chapel, on Bank Road, is a neat Gothic edifice, capable of accommodating 700 worshippers. The cost of the building was £2,500, and it is proposed to add a steeple. (2) Matlock Methodist and United Reformed Church is a stone built church, on a sloping site on Bank Road. It dates from 1882. Shortly after it opened the annual meeting of stewards and officers of the Wesleyan Circuit was held in the chapel. Their first business was to receive the newly appointed superintendent, the Rev. Higham. On 13th August 1884, the Chapel was registered for solemnizing marriages, replacing the Wesleyan Chapel, Matlock Bridge as that chapel was no longer used for worship. The church was built without a steeple and the tower and porch were added eighteen years later. The original architect was C O Ellison of Liverpool, and Horace G Bradley designed the later additions. The building, which has schoolrooms underneath, has been extended in recent years. Originally known as the Matlock Wesleyan Chapel, it then became the Trinity Methodist Church. Since 1990, when it combined with the United Reformed (formerly Congregational) Church on Chesterfield Road (see SMR 10094 and SMR 10095), it has been called the Matlock Methodist and United Reformed Church. (3) It is still in use as a place of worship [2011]. It is named 'Matlock Methodist Church' on modern mapping, with the 'Matlock United Reformed Church' is on Chesterfield Road (see SMR 10095), indicating that the congregation has split once again. (4)