Homepage  Meetings and Events  Society Membership  Brief Histories  Family & Social History
Ilkeston's Archaeology   Ilkeston and District Heritage  Stanton Road Cemetery  
Publications   Contact Us    Useful Links  

ILKESTON'S CHURCHES AND CHAPELS
PAST AND PRESENT

All Saints at Larklands - Park Road.
Built just before the outbreak of the First World War, All Saints was built on the site of the former Larklands Mission (see below).
The extant building is now a childrens' day nursery.

Baptist Chapel - South Street.
Built in 1784/5 and extended in 1842. The chapel was originally opened for the use of Baptists from Little Hallam, whose original chapel - built in 1767 - is said to have stood somewhere on the present Little Hallam Hill. To the south side of the chapel - on the site of Robey Yard - stood the original Sunday School rooms. Following the opening of a new and much larger chapel on Queen Street, the main building itself was used as a Sunday School.
The extant Grade 2 listed building stands adjacent to South Street Medical Centre.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Baptist Chapel - Queen Street.
Erected in 1858 at a cost of £1,400, on land purchased by auction from the estate of a Mr Lowe. The architect was Mr Booker of Nottingham and the builder, Mr Jedediah Wigley of Ilkeston. The building originally accommodated 400 worshipers until in 1883 when a gallery was added, increasing its capacity to 500. The chapel is a Grade 2 Listed Building.
The Baptists' former place of worship, to which a burial ground was once attached, was later used as a Sunday School (see above).
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Christ Church - formerly on Church Street, Cotmanhay.
The Parish of Cotmanhay was formed in 1845, partly out of the parish of Ilkeston and embracing Shipley.
The church was erected in 1848, at a cost of £2,600, raised by subscription and from Government grants. The Duke of Rutland also donated £200 and the site.
It was a stone building in the Early English style with lancet windows. Other features of note were a 'Kempe' window, a richly painted and gilded tripych and linenfold  panels in the sanctuary and a wrought iron choir screen. Demolished in 1983 after it was discovered that mining subsidence had caused serious structural damage.
(Photograph - courtesy of Erewash Museum)

Church of the Nazarene - Corporation Road.
The church was opened on South Street in 1940 and later moved to the premises of the former Wesleyan Church on Corporation Road in 1964.
The present building was built in 1893.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)
 

Cotmanhay Primitive Methodist - Cotmanhay Road.
Built in 1853 at a cost of £500.
A Sunday School also existed on Wesley Street.
The extant building has been converted to residential use.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Ebenezer Methodist Church - junction of Heanor Road and Charlotte Street.
Built in 1936 to replace one on Awsworth Road which dated back to 1850.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Holy Trinity Church - Awsworth Road and Cotmanhay Road.
Consecrated in 1884 by Bishop Maclagan (later Archbishop of York). Holy Trinity was built of stone in the Early English style and replaced a mission church built some 30 years previously.
In 1888, the church became the parish church of the newly formed parish of Holy Trinity.
The church consists of a nave with north and south aisles, a spacious chancel and vestries.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Independent Chapel - Burns Street.
Erected in 1849 at a cost of about £750 and once capable of seating up to 300 worshippers. It is said to have been built on the site of the first Congregational Chapel in Ilkeston, itself erected in 1781.
A burial ground once lay to the chapel's south side but this was cleared to make way for the Scala cinema which opened in 1913.
The extant building was eventually converted into private apartments in the 1980s.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Kensington Mission - Nottingham Road.
The Kensington Mission began life as a Sunday School for the education of the area's poor children. As part of Ilkeston's Congregational movement, it began in 1864 in a cottage loaned by Benjamin Tatham, a master needlemaker of Needlemakers' Yard. The school was soon extended to a second cottage and then to a room at the Needlemakers' Arms. Eventually, a larger space was acquired in the room of a local factory.
By 1866, land had been acquired opposite the junction of Nottingham Road and Park Drive for the construction of purpose built premises. These were erected around the year 1869 at a cost of £300.
(Photograph - courtesy of Erewash Museum)

Larklands Mission - Park Road.
One of two 'Tin Tabernacles' to have stood in Ilkeston.
This photograph shows the mission as it appeared in or around 1912 and features Reverend Mellors (seen on the right).
(Photograph courtesy of Erewash Museum)

Methodist New Connexion - Stamford Street.
The New Connexion was established in the early 1880s and originally occupied the former Wesleyan Chapel on Market Street (now demolished).
The site on Stamford Street was secured and a new church erected in 1889 at a cost of £2,000, inclusive of the land.
The building is of a Gothic design and originally contained the windows from the old Market Street Chapel.
In 1892, an incident took place which resulted in the death of one person and the injury of several others when during a magic lantern entertainment an explosion occurred. The accident also resulted in a certain amount of damage to the church itself.
The extant building is now home to a carpet business.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Nottingham Road Methodist - junction of Nottingham Road and Little Hallam Lane.
Stemming from the need for a place of worship for migrant families from Staffordshire, whose men folk worked at Trowell Forge, the church began in 1875 with the purchase of four cottages on the site of the present church, one of which was used for public worship.
In 1884 the first purpose built church was opened, built in the gardens of the four cottages. In 1897 work began to increase the capacity of the church. This extension work necessitated the demolition of the two cottages which fronted onto Nottingham Road. In 1959 a new church was added to the old school rooms.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Primitive Methodist Chapel - formerly on Bath Street.
The chapel was built in 1852, at a cost of £1,300. During its time the building was much altered and eventually was capable of seating around 600 worshipers. In 1888, extensive school rooms and a large hall were added on Wilmot Street.
The building was demolished in 1973, along with the Wesleyan Chapel, Bath Street, with whom its members amalgamated to form St. Andrew's, whose church now occupies the same site as the former Primitive Methodist.
(Photograph - Courtesy of Erewash Museum)

St.Bartholomew - Hallam Fields Road.
Designed by Currey of Derby in the Early English style, St.Bartholomews was built in 1895 to serve the needs of some 1000 people living at Hallam Fields, most of who worked at the Stanton Iron Works. Its predecessor had been a temporary iron church, built in 1880 and later re-erected  at Station Road.
The church was consecrated in 1896 by the Bishop Suffragan of Derby and served the community until its closure in 1969.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

St.John The Evangelist - Nottingham Road.
St.John's is a brick structure built in the Early English style. Designed by Currey of Derby, and initially built as a chapel of ease to St.Mary's, the foundation stone was laid in 1893 and was dedicated in 1894 by the Bishop of Southwell. Though not fully completed until 1911, it became the parish church of the newly formed parish of St.John's in 1912.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

St.Mary's Mission - formerly at the junction of Station Road and Alvenor Street.
Originally built in 1880 and in use at Hallam Fields for 15 years before the building of St.Bartholomew in 1895. St.Mary's Mission was one of two 'Tin Tabernacles' to have existed in Ilkeston and was one of the first missions to be set up by the Church Army.
(Photograph courtesy of Erewash Museum)
 

St.Thomas of Hereford - Nottingham Road.
The Catholic Church of Our Lady of Dale and St.Thomas of Hereford is a stone building in the Early English Gothic style and has a slender tower surmounted with a crown.
The sanctuary with the high altar is flanked by two side chapels. The Lady Chapel continues the tradition of Dale Abbey. The other chapel is dedicated St.Thomas of Hereford, a member of the Cantelupe family.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

Unitarian Chapel - High Street and Anchor Row.
Designed and built in 1869 by Mr. William Warner.
This replaced an older chapel which stood on the same site.
The extant building is now used as a Masonic Lodge.
(Photograph - Stephen Flinders)

United Reform Church - Wharnclife Road.
Construction of the church began in April 1904, on land purchased from the Duke of Rutland at a cost of £800.
The church is of red brick and of a Gothic style, the architect being Mr Harry Tatham Sudbury and the builder, Mr Alfred Earnshaw of Burr Lane.
In March 1905 the first gathering on the new premises were held when a grand bazaar was held in aid of the building fund.
The official opening took place on March 22nd with the dedication being carried out by Reverend J. Guiness Rogers of London.
 

Market Street Wesleyan New Connexion - This is probably the only illustration of the Market Street Wesleyan New Connexion Chapel which once stood facing the lower part of Gladstone Street. It was built around 1880 in a Gothic Style and had seating for about 200 worshippers.
During its demolition its windows were salvaged and reinstalled in the new chapel built on Stamford Street in 1889.

Wesleyan Chapel - formerly on Bath Street.
Built in 1873 by Frederick Shaw on the site of the former 'Fletcher's Factory', at a cost (including the purchase of land) of £2,500. Demolished in 1973, the site is presently occupied by the Wilkinson store. 
(Photograph - courtesy of David Hudson))
 

Wesleyan Chapel - formerly at Burgin Yard, later the site of Coronation Street.
This property became the first Wesleyan chapel in Ilkeston and was used as a Sunday School after a new chapel was built on South Street in 1845 (see below).
Later used as a motor repair garage, the building was eventually demolished during the construction of the Ritz Cinema in 1938.
(Photograph - courtesy of David Hudson)

Wesleyan Chapel - formerly on South Street.
Built in 1845 at a cost of £1,200 and seating 600 worshippers, this building replaced the former chapel situated at Burgin Yard (see above).
Use of the premises for worship ceased in 1957. Despite suggestions to adapt and use the empty building as a car show room or bowling alley, the building was demolished in 1968 and the site used for the erection of the then Ministry of Social Security Offices, a building which stands out like a sore thumb on Ilkeston's skyline.
(Photograph - courtesy of David Hudson)