| Administrative History | There is believed to have been a Methodist presence in Bakewell since at least 1777. The first Methodist chapel was built there in 1799. A new chapel for the Wesleyan Methodists was erected in Matlock Street in 1866, known as Dr Bunting's Memorial Chapel after one of its former ministers. In later years this premises was called the Wesley Chapel.
The George Roule Chappell Memorial School was erected at the same time as the Chapel in 1866. From 1868 the Wesleyan Day School carried on in this schoolroom. Records of the Mixed School are included in this collection, which was a day school for juniors and became a controlled school under Derbyshire County Council in 1950.
Records also include those of the Bakewell Primitive Methodist Church, later known as Bourne Methodist Hall, which was erected in Water Street in 1891. This church closed as a place of worship in 1944. After 1944 the hall was run by the Trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, until 1963 when it was sold to Haddon Dairy Co Ltd. |
| Custodial History | Records deposited by the Peak Methodist Circuit in March and July 1978, and October 1987 were formerly held under reference number D1877. Reaccessioned 1994. Additional records were deposited in April 2004 and September 2019. |