| Administrative History | A Primitive Methodist Chapel was built in the 1870s. This was sold in 1908. The new building On Becket Street was superseded by an enlarged Church on Constable Drive in the late 1950s. The old chapel was sold to Littleover Transport, who were due to take possession of it in late November 1957. The new building was financed by the Rank Trust and a bank overdraft. This money ran out at this time. The money from the sale of the Becket Street building was invested in Government Stocks. Those had to be sold for approximately two thirds of their anticipated value. The original plans for the new building were altered. A strip of land was also sold to assist the local authority with widening the Burton Road. These measures helped to offset the costs of construction.
The architect now proposed that the work would be finished by February 1958. A Dedication was organised for 1st March. The interior woodwork was manufactured by Alfred Smith at his Empress Road works. On the evening of February 28th 1958, the pews were in place, but joiners were still fitting the book shelves. A large work party were still working on the interior until after noon on
March 1st. Fortunately everything was ready by 2.30 p.m. when the door stewards arrived.
During the first Sunday evening service on March 2nd, fifteen young people were received into membership. However there was still a debt to pay off. After strenuous efforts the debt was finally wiped out on 24th July 1963.
In 1967 three rooms were added at the rear of the Becket Hall. The largest was named in memory of Mr. & Mrs. E. Spencer. It was Mrs. Spencer who was chosen
to open the Church due to her long association with Methodism in Littleover. In
1979, the foyer was enlarged to approximately fit the architect's original proposals (see D5698/7/1). |
| Custodial History | The records of this Church were deposited as part of Derby South Methodist Circuit in July 1984 and August 1993. Additional records were deposited in May 1998 and April 2003. |