John Wesley's New Room | |
---|---|
51°27′28″N2°35′24″W / 51.4579°N 2.5901°W | |
Location | 36 The Horsefair, Bristol, England, |
Denomination | Methodist |
History | |
Founder(s) | John Wesley |
Architecture | |
Completed | May 1739 |
John Wesley's New Room is a historic building located between between The Horsefair and Broadmead, Bristol, England. Opened in June 1739, it housed the earliest Methodist societies, and was enlarged in 1748. [1] As the oldest purpose-built Methodist preaching house (chapel), it has been designated by Historic England as a Grade I listed building. [2]
A Methodist museum is housed in the preachers' rooms above the chapel. The courtyards around the building contain statues of John Wesley [3] and his brother Charles. [4]
On 2 April 1739 John Wesley began preaching in the open fields at Bristol, and founded societies there. [5] [6] Under Wesley's direction, the building followed two months later, making it the oldest purpose-built Methodist chapel in the world. [7] [8] He called it "our New Room in the Horsefair". [9]
The chapel was built with a double-decker pulpit, which was common at the time, and is lighted by an octagonal lantern window to reduce the amount paid in window tax. In addition to meetings and worship, the New Room was used as a dispensary and schoolroom for the poor people of the area. [10] The pews and benches were made from old ship timber. [11] The Baldwin and Nicholas Street Methodist societies combined to form the United Society, which met at the New Room from 3 June 1739. [12] [ page needed ] Wesley insisted that meetings at the New Room should only be held outside of Anglican church hours as he wanted Methodism to complement rather than compete with Anglican worship. [12]
In 1748 it was extended, possibly by the Quaker architect George Tully in view of the stylistic similarities with the Friends' Meeting House at Quakers Friars of the same period. [13] John Wesley believed that liturgical worship should be carried out in churches, and only reluctantly allowed the enlarged New Room to comply with the Toleration Act 1688, making it a formal place of worship. [12] Rooms were built above the chapel, in which Wesley and other itinerant preachers stayed. Wesley lived at the New Room from 1748 to 1771 and administered Holy Communion there when his brother Charles was away. [12] Wesley added to the Methodist offer in Bristol by selling his published works from a bookstore in the New Room. Analysis of the complete printed output of Bristol between 1695 and 1775 shows that over half was written by Methodists. [12] Wesley published a medical handbook, Primitive Physick; the New Room housed one of Bristol's first medical dispensaries. [14]
After Wesley's death, in 1808 the property passed into the hands of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists. In 1929 it was bought back by the Wesleyan Methodist Church. [14] The John Snetzler Chamber Organ of 1761 is a 20th-century addition following the restoration of the building in 1929 by Sir George Oatley. [8]
A garden in the Broadmead Courtyard was opened on 24 May 2011 by the Lord Mayor of Bristol. This was followed by the opening of the Horsefair Visitor Centre on 13 July 2017 by the Duke of Gloucester. The new facilities include a café, library and archive and conference and education facilities, plus an expanded interactive museum housed in the twelve upstairs rooms of the 1748 building. [15] As the oldest purpose-built Methodist building in the world it has become a centre of international pilgrimage. [16] [17]
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significant early leaders in the movement. They were named Methodists for "the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith". Methodism originated as a revival movement within Anglicanism with roots in the Church of England in the 18th century and became a separate denomination after Wesley's death. The movement spread throughout the British Empire, the United States and beyond because of vigorous missionary work, and today has about 80 million adherents worldwide.
John Wesley was an English cleric, theologian, and evangelist who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The societies he founded became the dominant form of the independent Methodist movement that continues to this day.
Charles Wesley was an English Anglican cleric and a principal leader of the Methodist movement. Wesley was a prolific hymnwriter who wrote over 6,500 hymns during his lifetime. His works include "And Can It Be", "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing", "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today", "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling", the carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", and "Lo! He Comes With Clouds Descending".
Broadmead is a street in the central area of Bristol, England, which has given its name to the principal shopping district of the city. It is part of Bristol Shopping Quarter.
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is a Protestant Christian denomination in Britain, and the mother church to Methodists worldwide. It participates in the World Methodist Council, and the World Council of Churches among other ecumenical associations.
Bristol, the largest city in South West England, has an eclectic combination of architectural styles, ranging from the medieval to 20th century brutalism and beyond. During the mid-19th century, Bristol Byzantine, an architectural style unique to the city, was developed, and several examples have survived.
The Fetter Lane Society was the first flowering of the Moravian Church in Britain, and an important precursor to Methodism. It was founded in 1738. Although the original meeting house was destroyed in the mid-20th century, the society still meets in London, and is part of the British Province of the Moravian Church.
Wesley's Chapel is a Methodist church situated in the St Luke's area in the south of the London Borough of Islington. Opened in 1778, it was built under the direction of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. The site is a place of worship and visitor attraction, incorporating the Museum of Methodism in its crypt and John Wesley's House next to the chapel. The chapel has been called "The Mother Church of World Methodism".
Barratt's Chapel is a chapel located to the north of Frederica in Kent County, Delaware. It was built in 1780 on land donated by Philip Barratt, owner of Barratt Hall, and a prominent local landowner and political figure. Barratt, who had recently become a Methodist, wanted to build a center for the growing Methodist movement in Delaware.
There are 100 Grade I listed buildings in Bristol, England according to Bristol City Council. The register includes many structures which for convenience are grouped together in the list below.
Wesley Methodist Church is the oldest Methodist church in Singapore. It is the second Methodist Church to be built in Singapore after the Methodist Episcopal Church at Coleman Street which subsequently became a school hall. It is located in Fort Canning Hill.
Methodist Union was the joining together of several of the larger British Methodist denominations. These were the Wesleyan Methodists, the Primitive Methodists, and the United Methodists. The process involved many years of negotiation and discussion, as well as a vote by the members of each denomination to approve the union. In 1932 a Uniting Conference met on 20 September in the Royal Albert Hall, London. It adopted the Deed of Union as setting forth the basis of union and declaring and defining the constitution and doctrinal standards of the Methodist Church, and a new Model Deed was executed.
The organisation of the Methodist Church of Great Britain is based on the principle of connexionalism. This means that British Methodism, from its inception under John Wesley (1703–1791), has always laid strong emphasis on mutual support, in terms of ministry, mission and finance, of one local congregation for another. No singular church community has ever been seen in isolation either from its immediately neighbouring church communities or from the centralised national organisation. Wesley himself journeyed around the country, preaching and establishing local worshipping communities, called "societies", often under lay leadership. Soon these local communities of worshipping Christians formalised their relationships with neighbouring Methodist communities to create "circuits", and the circuits and societies contained within them, were from the very beginning 'connected' to the centre and Methodism's governing body, the annual Conference. Today, societies are better known as local churches, although the concept of a community of worshipping Christians tied to a particular location, and subdivided into smaller cell groups called "classes", remains essentially based on Wesley's societies.
Victoria Hall is a Methodist place of worship situated on Norfolk Street in Sheffield city centre. It is the most important Methodist building in Sheffield and it is a Grade II listed building. It is a large many roomed building which stands between the side streets of Chapel Walk and George Street. Although the main entrance to the church is on Norfolk Street, there is a separate administration entrance on Chapel Walk.
Charles Wesley's House is a restored historic building at 4 Charles Street, Bristol, England. From 1749 to 1778 it was the house of Charles Wesley, hymn writer and co-founder of Methodism, and his wife Sarah Wesley, née Gwynne. It was Charles Wesley's main residence during 1756–71. It was the childhood home of his sons Charles Wesley junior and Samuel Wesley. They were musical child prodigies, who both became renowned organists and composers. The house's interior has been restored to its 18th-century appearance, with period fittings.
Frederick Brook Hitch (1897–1957) was a British sculptor, the son of the architectural sculptor Nathaniel Hitch. He attended the Royal Academy Schools and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. He lived in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England.
The Masbrough Independent Chapel was an Independent or Congregationalist chapel in the Masbrough district of Rotherham, from the 18th century until the 1970s, at which point it became part of the United Reformed Church.
Hinde Street Methodist Church in Hinde Street, Marylebone, London, is Grade II listed with Historic England. It was built 1807-10 and rebuilt in the 1880s.
The Foundery, in Moorfields, was the first London foundry for casting brass cannon for the British Board of Ordnance. The building subsequently served as the first Wesleyan Methodist house of worship, and an important meeting place for the early Methodist community. In 1778, the Methodist congregation was moved to the nearby purpose-built Wesley's Chapel on City Road.