| Description | Trustees minutes and other papers 1891-1987, financial records 1873-1976, Leaders minutes 1923-1968, Society minutes and other papers 1926-1968, Church Committee and Council minutes 1930-1995, Sunday School minutes 1927-1974, Spondon (formerly Young) Wesleyan Guild 1934-1965 (including minutes, membership and accounts), Choir minutes 1936-2000, Newsletters 1963-1999, Spondon Sisterhood minutes 1932-1949, Building and property records, including plans, 1933-1988 |
| Administrative History | In 1791 there was a record of 13 Members and 2 Leaders. The number of members in 1817 had grown to 40. Passing on to 1877, the time of the erection of the present Chapel [as in 1927] , the number was 44.
The first Methodist Chapel in Spondon appears to have been built on land belonging to John Chambers, and conveyed to Trustees in 1817. Further transactions took place, in 1827, from Robert Gregory, and also in 1842. The original Chapel was first registered as a place of worship in 1854.
The decision to arise and build meant the beginning as a Chapel of a great effort, which culminated in the erection of a new Chapel and Vestry in 1877. The foundation stones were laid on 23 July, and the Chapel opened on the first Thursday in October. It was registered for public worship and the solemnization of marriages in 1879.
A step further was taken in 1926, when the Trustees took advantage of the Act of Parliament by which the Minister becomes the authorised person.
In the spirit of thanksgiving, and in an endeavour to visualise future needs, it is proposed to mark the Jubilee by inaugurating a Fund to provide something for future extension of Methodism in the effort to meet the spiritual needs of a growing community.
The Primitive and Wesleyan Methodist Churches in Spondon united on the first Sunday in July 1933. The stone-laying ceremony took place on 2 December 1933. A new Methodist Church was dedicated and opened on 21 July 1934. The new building cost £7,300. The Church housed the amalgamated Methodist congregations of Spondon.
There were Methodist Circuits based in King Street and Traffic Street in Derby.
The initial steps culminating in the purchase of land were taken at the Lodge Lane site in January 1929. A suitable site was found in January 1930. the purchase of the land was completed in February 1931. The stone-laying ceremony took place in December 1933. The new Spondon Methodist Church was opened in July 1934. It was largely due to the enthusiasm of Mr. & Mrs. H. Wright of Hall Dyke that the Lodge Lane Chapel came into being. Monies were through bazaars, the Ladies' Sewing Meeting made many items for sale, the Boys Brigade held pantomimes and concert parties, tennis tournaments and garden parties were held, and children sold 'bricks' for building. Even after the Chapel doors were unlocked, fund raising efforts continued to help pay off the debt.
The School premises and the Church were both redecorated in 1945, and in 1958, and subsequent years.
In 1946 under the guidance of Rev John Dodds and due to a shortage of local preachers, a Preaching Group was formed consisting of seven or eight young members of the Church. The group would hole services mostly at the small outlying chapels, such as Kirk Langley, Quarndon, Allestree, etc. The group was warmly welcomed by these small chapels, not least because they mostly doubled their congregations. When the Church opened, Sunday School was held during the morning and during the afternoon, each scholar holding a 'Star Card', which was stamped with a star on each attendance. Attendances for the morning services began to decrease while those for the afternoon increased. Extension rooms were added in 1966 and opened by the Sunday School Superintendent, Will Frost. The Beginners used one room and the Primary the other. In the late 1960s the Sunday School reverted to just a morning service, from which it went from strength to strength leading to a thriving Sunday School in the mid - 1980s. Sunday School teachers always had a Summer outing. A hired minibus would take then to the Peak District. Following an afternoon walk, the minibus would pick them up and on to 'high tea' before returning home in the evening.
A new Trust was formed in 1949, including women for the first time. Then in 1954 the Derby East Circuit was formed, with Spondon as the central Church.
In 1963 a Christian Stewardship Campaign was launched in Spondon, whereby pledged gifts each Sunday were placed on the offertory plates and these allocated to various organisations, the Sunday School, Assessments, Boys' Brigade, Home and Overseas Missions, Christian Citizenship, etc.
The number of members, particularly in the Sunday School continued to rise upto 1970. In 1966, it was then decided to enlarge the premises.
Started by Mrs. Harry Wright, the 1st Spondon Company of the Girls' Brigade celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in 1983. |
| Custodial History | These records were deposited in Derbyshire Record Office by Derby East Methodist Circuit in four consignments between June 1993 and Februrary 2011. |