ORGANS IN & AROUND CHESTERFIELD

LOOSE ENDS & UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Research is both a pleasurable and a frustrating activity. The more you find out, the more you realise there is still to be found out. To write a complete account of the organs of even a small geographical area is an impossible undertaking. Church records have been lost; misinformation is common; sources disagree; time is always the limiting factor.

My account of the organs of Chesterfield is incomplete, and will doubtless remain so. Here is a selection of some loose ends. If anyone reading this has more complete information (or corrections) about any of the organs mentioned in these pages, I would be delighted to hear from you; please email me.

 

ELUSIVE ORGANS

Here is a list of venues about which my research has produced only a very incomplete picture.

CHESTERFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL, SHEFFIELD ROAD
A pipe-organ was housed in the Hall; presumed to have been removed when the school moved to new premises in the 1960s. No further details.

WESLEYAN METHODIST, BRIMINGTON
In 1915 a two-manual organ was installed by Albert Keates (Sheffield). The modern church building has used a Livingston electronic since the mid 1970s.

STORRS ROAD METHODIST, BRAMPTON
Built 1899. An organ was installed (c1900?) with two manuals and about 13 stops. There was a pipe-front of three silvered flats, with brown/buff woodwork. This organ was removed in 1985, and the church now uses a Gulbransen theatre-type electronic.

ST. ANDREW'S UNITED REFORMED CHURCH, NEWBOLD
The church has a Norwich 'B' electronic; two manuals, 28 stops. Uncertain whether it replaced a pipe organ.

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST, OLD WHITTINGTON
Chapel built 1856 as Primitive Methodist. A pipe-organ is present; there is one manual and about 6 stops.

METHODIST, MASTIN MOOR
Near Staveley. Two-manual organ by P. Conacher replaced in 1975 by an electronic.

ST. PETER & ST. PAUL, DUCKMANTON
Near Staveley. Livingston 'Chorale 30' electronic installed in 1978; 22 stops on two manuals. Uncertain whether it replaced a pipe organ.

BETHEL CHAPEL, DANESMOOR
New Connexion Chapel opened 1869. Organ 'loft' behind pulpit 1907. Organ visible in an old photograph; 10 drawstops, one or two manuals.

BAPTIST, CLAY CROSS
Chapel opened in 1867; in January 1908 a new organ was dedicated. It was by C. Lloyd & Co. (Nottingham) and stood at the rear of the chapel. The compass was 58/30; there were 10 drawstops, and an old photograph appears to show only one manual. The modern Baptist church at Clay Cross uses an electronic.

ST. PAUL'S METHODIST, DRONFIELD
Allen organ installed 1980. Uncertain whether it replaced a pipe organ.

 

CHURCHES WITHOUT PIPE-ORGANS

Here is a list of churches and chapels which have never possessed a pipe-organ.

ST. JOHN, WALTON
BAPTIST, HASLAND - small electronic.
HOLY FAMILY R.C., DERBY ROAD - small electronic (in 1991).
ST. PETER, WOODTHORPE - near Staveley; mission church.
ST. COLUMBA, INKERSALL - near Staveley; mission church.
POOLSBROOK METHODIST - small Baldwin electronic installed 1980.
ASCENSION, LOUNDSLEY GREEN - electronic.

 

OTHER CHURCHES AND CHAPELS

The sheer number of churches and chapels in a small geographical area is astonishing. Many (particularly Methodist chapels) sprung up and closed again in less than a century. Here is a provisional list drawn from published sources in Chesterfield reference library. Most of these buildings no longer exist; precise information about church closure, or continued function, is given if known. Some of them may well have had pipe-organs.

ARMINIAN METHODIST - Near the bowling green in the town centre. Open by 1821 as a Baptist Chapel, taken over by the Arminians in 1833.
SANDEMANIAN CHAPEL - Near Soresby Street in the town centre. 18th-century.
ST. JAMES' MISSION CHURCH, VICAR LANE - Anglican; in the town centre, date of closure unknown, building survived until 1999.
UNITED METHODIST FREE CHAPEL, ELDER YARD - in the town centre, closed by c1930.
ELDER YARD MISSION HALL - Anglican; in the town centre, demolished for road widening in the 1920s/30s.
ST. JOSEPH'S CONVENT CHAPEL, NEWBOLD ROAD
ST. HUGH RC, NEWBOLD
BOOTH MEMORIAL METHODIST, STONEGRAVELS - in the care of Holywell Cross Chapel.
ALBERT STREET MISSION ROOM, STONEGRAVELS - parish of Holy Trinity & Stonegravels.
CONGREGATIONAL, AVENUE ROAD, WHITTINGTON MOOR
PRIMITIVE METHODIST, WHITTINGTON MOOR
ST. JOHN'S ROAD METHODIST, WHITTINGTON
DUKE STREET METHODIST, WHITTINGTON
WESLEYAN METHODIST, WHITTINGTON - 1875; now gone.
ST. PATRICK RC, NEW WHITTINGTON
ST. CHAD, AVENUE ROAD
ST. SIMON & ST. JUDE, SHEEPBRIDGE
UNITED METHODIST, SHEEPBRIDGE
METHODIST, DUCKMANTON
METHODIST, INKERSALL
BETHEL METHODIST, POOLSBROOK - Primitive Methodist.
EBENEZER METHODIST, POOLSBROOK - Wesleyan Methodist.
EBENEZER METHODIST, BARROW HILL - United Methodist.
WESLEYAN METHODIST, BARROW HILL - 1870.
ZION METHODIST, BARROW HILL - Primitive Methodist.
EBENEZER METHODIST, MASTIN MOOR - Primitive Methodist.
ST. FRANCIS, HOLLINGWOOD - Mission church, parish of Staveley. Closed.
BETHEL GOSPEL MISSION, STAVELEY
ST. MARY'S MISSION, BRIMINGTON COMMON
MOUNT ZION METHODIST, BRIMINGTON
EBENEZER METHODIST, BRIMINGTON
BRIMINGTON COMMON METHODIST
METHODIST, NEW BRIMINGTON
PRIMITIVE METHODIST, CALOW GREEN
ST. FRANCIS, BOYTHORPE
WESLEY HALL, HOLLIS LANE - 1898, demolished c.1980?
OLD HALL ROAD WESLEYAN, BRAMPTON
NEW HALL ROAD WESLEYAN, BRAMPTON
EBENEZER CHAPEL, DANESMOOR - Primitive Methodist, 1869.
ST. BARNABAS, DANESMOOR - 1883. Still open.
ST. MARK, HANDLEY- 1870. Still open.
NEW CONNEXION GOSPEL MISSION, CLAY CROSS - Opened 1902.
THANET STREET R.C. CHAPEL, CLAY CROSS - Opened 1862; sittings for 200. Used a harmonium.
NEW FREE METHODIST, GRUNDY ROAD, CLAY CROSS - Small chapel opened 1857.
METHODIST, UNSTONE - Now a residence.

The following were medieval foundations, and had disappeared by the 17th-century:

ST. THOMAS' CHAPEL, HOLYWELL STREET - site of the Bluebell Inn.
ST. HELEN'S CHAPEL - site of St. Helena School/former boys' Grammar School.
ST. JAMES, LORDSMILL BRIDGE - Lordsmill Street; area razed in the 1980s.

 

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