Chapel Milton is a hamlet on the outskirts of

Chapel-en-le-Frith Chapel-en-le-Frith () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It has been dubbed the "Capital of the Peak", in reference to the Peak District, historically the upperland areas between the Saxon lands (belo ...

on the road leading from there to

Chinley Chinley is a rural village in the High Peak Borough of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 2,796 at the 2011 Census. Most of the civil parish (called Chinley, Buxworth and Brownside) is within the Peak District National Park. Historicall ...

and to

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is located east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of the county town, Matlock. Glossop lies near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Manches ...

. Within the parish of

Chinley, Buxworth and Brownside Chinley, Buxworth and Brownside is a civil parish within the High Peak, Derbyshire, High Peak district, which is in the county of Derbyshire, England. Partially rural with several villages contained within, its population was 2,796 residents in th ...

, it takes its name from the site of a medieval corn mill, Maynstonfield Mill, or “Mainstonefield alias Chinley”. This mill was erected near a stream called Hockholme Brook, which is no longer marked though is thought to converge with the Black Brook at Chapel Milton. Originally built in 1391 for £12 4s 1d, the mill (which adjoined what is now Milton House) was demolished in 1946. The hamlet is notable for two major features. The first is

Chapel Milton Viaduct Chapel Milton Viaduct is a Grade II listed bifurcated railway viaduct on the Great Rocks Line at its junction with the Hope Valley Line, straddling the Black Brook valley in Chapel Milton, Derbyshire, England. The first section of the viaduct, b ...

, bifurcating double railway viaduct crossing the Black Brook, tributary to the

Goyt The River Goyt is a tributary of the River Mersey in North West England. Etymology The name ''Goyt'' may be derived from the Middle English ''gote'', meaning "a watercourse, a stream". Derivation from the Welsh ''gwyth'' meaning "vein" has bee ...

, on which Chapel Milton is situated. One section of the viaduct diverges and curves to the west whilst the other (built a little later) curves to the east as the line, coming up from the south, links up with the main line between

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. At one time the western section carried express trains from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

( St Pancras) to Manchester Central Station. The viaducts now carry considerable loads of quarried stone from the works around

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

. The other major feature is Chinley Chapel.Chinley Chapel website
The Christian congregation, which has continuously occupied this site almost since its foundation (in a barn at nearby Malcoff), was founded in 1662 at the time of the post-Cromwellian struggle between a Presbyterian or Episcopalian form for the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. The present 'chapel', of considerable simplicity and beauty, was built, against considerable local opposition, in 1711. It flourishes as a centre of Christian (

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

) worship. It is part of the

Congregational Federation The Congregational Federation is a small Christian denomination in Great Britain comprising 235 congregations, down from 294 in April 2014. The Federation brings together Congregational churches, and provides support and guidance to member chur ...

, and the current minister is Rev. Edmonde Openshaw.

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

preached in the hamlet on 28 May 1745, when the miller purportedly tried to drown him out with the sound of the watermill. Grace Bennett (née Murray), Wesley's former fiancé, is buried with the husband she later married, preacher John Bennett, in Chinley Independent Chapel. The viaduct and chapel are both listed buildings, the latter at Grade II*.

References

{{reflist Hamlets in Derbyshire High Peak, Derbyshire Towns and villages of the Peak District