How it all began...

 

In May 1810, Barrow and Taylor wrote to the Brook Street Church urging a separation which was eventually agreed. On 21st May 1810 they formed themselves into a distinct church of 47 members and on the 6 October 1810 a letter was sent from a group of Baptists in Duffield to the Bishop of Lichfield; it began: "We the undersigned being Protestant Dissenters do hereby certify your Lordship that a certain chapel or meeting house situated in Duffield, in the County of Derby and within the diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, is intended to be used for the public worship of Almighty God by a congregation of Protestant Dissenters called Baptists…".  The letter continued by referring to the Toleration Act of 1689, which granted freedom of worship to nonconformists.  They successfully obtained a Licence from the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry to maintain a Dissenting Church in the village.

 

There is no indication of where the meeting room was but from Lady Day in 1811 an agreement to lease property was made between John Taylor on the one hand and six members of the new church who were:  Joseph Barrow a farmer from Quarndon, William Smith a farmer from Windley, William Slack, George Houlgate, William Hough all framework knitters from Quarndon and Joseph Hunt a stone cutter from Duffield Bank.  There were several conditions to the lease which was for 12 years at an annual rent of £10, and by which the care of the fabric would be the responsibility of the church.

 

"Joseph Barrow left Duffield in 1812 to concentrate on a new cause in Shottle and Wirksworth. Mr Richard Ingham, a student from the College, was called as Minister. The church at that time had 90 members. Ingham was ordained to the pastoral office in June 1819 and remained at the church until 1822. There were then 203 members of whom 43 had been baptised the previous year."

 

Land on which to build a chapel was purchased in 1826 by John Taylor for £100 and entailed a peppercorn rent.  On 3 February Mrs Ann Beighton of Duffield released to them "a piece or parcel of land called the Green situate at Duffield…" This piece of land was described as between two roads which was originally "part of the waste lands within the liberty of Duffield." By 1830 the chapel was completed in brick and stone the cost being met chiefly by John Taylor whose initials are carved over the main entrance.  Before his death in1837 he transferred it to a group of trustees who were: George Malin the Elder a farmer from Shottle, George Malin the Younger a farmer from Ashley Hay, George Houlgate a farmer from Hazelwood, William Sims a blacksmith from Belper, Joshua Reeder a framework knitter from Duffield, George Cooper a farmer from Duffield and William Abel a blacksmith from Duffield.

 

It was guaranteed for future generations of Baptists at Duffield that "at all times for ever hereafter" the chapel building and burial ground should be used "for no other purpose whatsoever."