Description: Showing the exterior, west end of the church. It is located between St John's Road and The Butts. This simple stone building dates from around 1250. It was built by William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, who was lord of many manors, including Belper, and who had castles at Tutbury and Duffield. At that time Belper was a village in Duffield Frith, one of the many Royal Forests - hunting grounds for the Kings of Mediaeval England. The Chapel saved the foresters and their families a long walk to their Parish Church in Duffield. When it was first built the Chapel was a plain rectangle, with no vestry, porch or bell-cote. As it was not a parish church, baptisms, weddings and burials could not take place there. In 1634 the porch was built, and the bell-cote was added in 1699. The late 18th century saw a great increase in the population of Belper, with the addition of mill-workers to the farmers and nailers of earlier years. The Chapel became almost a parish church, with baptisms in 1783, and burials from 1793. Further changes and extensions to the Chapel were precluded by the building of St. Peter's Church as the main Anglican church in 1824. The old Chapel was restored in the 1870's. Today the Chapel is divided into 2 main parts, the western end being used as a Council Chamber by the Belper Town Council, while the eastern end is a Heritage Centre and meeting room used by local groups and for public meetings