Ticknall Methodist Chapel

Ticknall Meeting House

In 1792 Ticknall Methodist Trustees paid 15 shillings for part of a garden on the old coach road from Calke Abbey to the Parish Church (now Chapel Lane). The plot belonged to Sarah, widow of Thomas Dutton, joiner, and was opposite the present Chapel. There they built a Meeting House, which effectively replaced the overcrowded cottage meetings. The trustees were George Banton (gent); George Banton the younger, Joseph Banton, Thomas Hutchinson, Thomas Richardson (yeomen); Samuel Clarke (hosier); James Pywell (farmer); William Richdale (glover); from the Melbourne Society - Henry Fox (gent), Ambrose Beaumont (surgeon); from the Ashby Society - Henry Joyce (gent), Matthew Ingle (gent); from the Tonge and Breedon Society - John Hall (gent).

The Methodist cause in Ticknall prospered well, so that a few years later a gallery was added to increase the capacity of the Meeting House. Even this proved insufficient and early in the new century Ticknall Methodists had to face the task of building a new, larger place of worship. This was completed in 1815.

Methodism, London to Ticknall

In the year 1739 the Hastings sisters of Ashby were in London for the season, along with many other members of the gentry of the land. They came to hear of a preacher called John Wesley and curiosity took them to Fetters Lane where a group of Methodists were meeting. They were immensley impressed, especially Lady Margaret who became a convinced Methodist.

She lost no time in breaking the news to her sister-in-law Lady Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, who resided at Donington Hall. She too became an ardent Methodist and in the following years invited John Wesley and other Methodist preachers to Donington to address her friends.

Lady Selina had founded a school in Penn Lane, Melbourne and had property and influence there. So, in June 1741 she persuaded Wesley to preach to the townsfolk. He was not allowed into the pulpit of the Parish Church, but found a good vantage point under a tree from whence to deliver his message.

Wesley's fervour and the urgency of his personal appeal fired the imagination of some of his audience. That was the beginning of Methodism in Melbourne - and perhaps in Ticknall too. There would surely have been a Ticknall villager in Melbourne that day, by accident or design. If not, the news would have been all round the village by nightfall.

Society and Chapel

From 1741, when Wesley first preached in Melbourne, Methodism slowly established itself in Ticknall. It's group of devoted supporters looked for help to Melbourne, Ashby and Donington. Then a new Methodist arrived.

In 1760 Harry, son of Sir Henry Harpur, came of age and inherited Calke Hall and the estate. In 1762 he married Lady Frances Greville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick. She was the new Methodist. Ticknall Methodists must have rejoiced indeed. Perhaps in her honour, or with her encouragement, they declared themselves openly and founded the Ticknall Methodist Society.