Son’s heartache after Derbyshire chapel containing his parents’ memorial is sold off

Andrew Greasley’s parents, Joan and Peter helped run the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Westhouses for almost 40 years. First becoming members back in 1947 and helping out with the Sunday school service, the couple soon got involved in the chapel’s day-to-day upkeep – Joan as a secretary dealing with finances and Peter with maintenance.

After their deaths in 1992 and 1999 respectively, Peter and Joan were both cremated, going along with the tradition of Methodist Church members. As neither of his parents had headstones or any other kind of memorial to commemorate them, Andrew got in contact with the chapel warden. After discussions, it was agreed that a memorial plaque dedicated to the couple would be placed inside of the chapel that they had both faithfully served for four decades.

However, Andrew became concerned about the memorial’s future after the closure and sale of the chapel in December 2022.

After hearing that the chapel was being put up for auction, Andrew got into contact with The Borders Methodist Circuit to find out what would happen to his parents’ plaque.

Andrew said: “I had a letter which said they’d try and get a covenant or deed saying that the new owner couldn’t do anything with the plaque without anybody’s permission and that it was to be treated with due respect.” After the sale however, Andrew received another letter saying that “no covenants were drawn up.”

Adding to an already confusing situation, the chapel went back up for auction and was sold again in January 2023. Andrew says he has tried repeatedly to talk to someone about his concerns, but has only ever reached an answering machine

After the most recent sale, The Borders Circuit wrote to Andrew, saying “there was nothing more they could do” and that he was not to contact them again.

“I don’t think this has been handled well by any of the people involved. It’s been very unprofessional and pretty uncaring really,” he said.

When asked to comment, the Borders Methodist Circuit responded: “We received a request to remove a memorial plaque from Westhouses Chapel before the building was sold. In Oct 2021 we asked a stonemason to consider how this could be achieved and we were advised that, because of the way it had been attached to the wall, there was no guarantee of removing the plaque in one piece. We passed this information on but did not hear back until January this year, by which time the building had changed owners.”

With around forty other Methodist chapels closing around the Derbyshire-Nottingham border, Andrew is in no doubt that there will be others out there in a similar situation as his own. It may also be a cautionary tale to others who may have plaques in similar chapels, still in operation. Andrew remains hopeful, however that he will one day be able to safely remove his parent’s memorial plaque, with a new home at the Midland Railway Museum, outside Ripley, in mind.